


Angel Training 3: Uprising

by Zafona



Series: Angel Training [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Angels, Death, Destruction, Fallen Angels, Fighting, Genocide, Love, M/M, Plot, Plotty, Romance, Slavery, Struggle, Temporary Character Death, Training, Uprising, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-14
Updated: 2013-03-13
Packaged: 2017-12-05 06:24:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 31
Words: 81,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/719875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zafona/pseuds/Zafona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been ten years since their wedding, since the last tournament that they assumed the fighting was all over. Dean and Castiel have become symbols of peace and coexistence in the world, revered and deified. When what looks like a small group of angry angels turns out to be an army for a revolution, Dean and Castiel find themselves once again stuck in a battle they don't want.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"In the last three decades, all over the world, a new species had become known to mankind. Angels. One might think the biblical teachings would have us all praising them; however the teachingss weren't as strong as we'd have hoped. There had been only one way to deal with these new beings: Catch them. Train them. Make them our slaves. The angels hadn't seen it coming and didn't know what hit them when it happened. In a flock of wings and desperate struggles at escape, they were taken down in the first attempts. Humans managed to capture several angels before they drew back, most of them shocked and confused. Somehow, they had expected a warmer welcome."

Dean Winchester strolled across the stage at the front of the room in a building known as the United States Capitol. He looked over all the faces of the people watching him now, the room was full and he could see several rows of angels as well as humans. A smile crept onto his lips; things had been going very well. He crossed the floor again as he continued his story, nearly re-telling the report he'd given in his grade 12 English class. It was a decided act of repetition; Dean felt the need to remind himself what he'd done, how he'd changed himself from the bigoted asshole to who he was now. He went from calling angels things and believing their place in the world to be enslaved to mankind, to loving them, taking care of them where he could, he'd even married one.

Representatives of human and angel relations, symbols of peace and harmony between the two races; the names Dean and Castiel Winchester had not been forgotten, even ten years after their last tournament had ended. They stepped up to the plate, instead of allowing the world to shove them aside as mindless celebrities they pushed forward and now stood among the congressmen and government officials. Dean and Castiel were the names and faces of hope and order among the two coexisting species. They were revered over the last ten years, their names praised and cheered. They had the only known perfect bond, the only connection that was absolute.

The bonds between angels and humans had shifted over the decade; it had been seen as a right for the human to force the angel into submission at first but now? Now the bond was a sacred thing, a privilege for any human to be allowed to make the connection by an angel. And since it was sacred, combined with the nature of Dean and Castiel's, they were at the top of that food chain.

As much as the world knew their names, the names Sam and Gabriel also rang loudly among the public. Sam Winchester and his teammate Gabriel were the top law enforcement team in America. They were renowned for their team work, intelligence and confidence. Sam's leadership abilities were often sought after, his strength of mind and ability to keep his cool in just about any situation were bonuses to his character. Granted he would get as mad and pissed off as any other man of the law, the difference was he never abused his power or abilities. Sam would refuse to fatally harm someone outright, even if everything they'd done had called for it. He'd beat the shit out of them but he'd never kill them, a nice trait to have in his field of work, it made him tough but also a lot more approachable.

Dean wouldn't want anyone else on the streets, that was for damn sure. And he often worked alongside his brother in the court rooms. Sam was a lawyer for the equality battles as well, and as vicious and as strong as his reputation stood, he was also known for having a gentle heart, able to see truth in things that most others would miss. Dean couldn't be prouder and knew no better partners to have.

Though his mind had wandered during his speech, Dean never lost track of where he was or stumbled over any of his words. He'd done this kind of thing several times, he and Castiel still made plenty of public appearances and today was no different. They were summoned to give the reports on how angelic and human relations had been going, how the development had progressed. Dean always took the first half of it, he wasn't sure what it was about Castiel but his husband always seemed to capture and enchant everyone with his words. Best to let that kind of public speaker go last.

"Good morning, everyone." Castiel stepped forward once Dean graciously stepped down. He stood tall with an aged gaze, content and proud, and somehow knowledgeable. "We do this every year and the start of the story will always be the same, though Dean does a wonderful job of retelling it." The angel glanced over his shoulder at his husband, the wide smile spreading over the man's lips a good indication they were doing well. "You want to know where we stand right now. In comparison to thirty, twenty, even ten years ago, we are on top of this. We've managed to not only change the direction the world was heading in but also how it has been run. Equality is not an easy thing to achieve but at one point, I believe we did it. Angels and humans now stand as equals in society; they have been freed from their captivity and given the rightful chances they hadn't received the first time. All 'angel owning' equipment has since been outlawed, the only effective tranquilizing equipment left belongs to our law enforcement. I know it has been tough on the economy but I believe that-"

The entire room shook suddenly, a deafening explosion sounding in the surrounding rooms. Screams erupted and a massive flock of bodies and movement rushed about, everyone getting in everyone else's way and knocking one another over in their haste. Mass hysteria engulfed the room. In the split second between the first explosions and the panic, Castiel had the sense to spin toward Dean and tackle him down, one wing tearing through his brilliantly made suit and curling over top of them.

No sooner had he done it had another burst of flames blasted over the room. The sound was so loud Castiel wasn't even sure he could hear it, his heart pounded violently in his chest, drowning out all the other noises around him. He didn't dare lift his head as the detonations rumbled and tore the building apart; he could feel every tremor and felt every ripping tear in the foundation. Dean squirmed below him and he knew he had to look up, had to open his eyes to make sure his lover was alright. Wild and terrified green eyes stared back at him, Dean was no more aware of what was happening than himself and it scared the hell out of both of them.

A long and high pitched screech pierced everything Castiel was feeling, his heart nearly stopping from the sound. "We have to go!" He shouted though he couldn't even hear his own words, Dean could see his mouth moving but made no indication of understanding it.  _"NOW!"_

Dean scrambled then, they both did. A rush of blood, adrenaline and horror struck them as they bolted toward a shattered window. They could feel the floor cracking and crumbling beneath them, could feel the gust of wind as another attack hurdled through the air. The sights of the room in shambles hit their retinas in their mad dash, blood painted the room, blood and fire, bodies and debris and it wasn't over yet. Castiel could feel it, a massive strike was headed straight for the building, this attack was meant to take out the entire assembly, angels and humans alike. The rumbling as the colossal onslaught bore down on them only grew louder and louder as the foundation started to snap and pop horrendously. The world felt like it was in slow motion as they ran, Castiel caught Dean's hand in the insanity and squeezed it, looking at one another swiftly just before the ceiling broke and the blast wave erased all vision from their eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

" _Are you kidding me? No, no I refuse." Castiel laughed, shoving Dean aside playfully._

" _Aw come on," Dean nudged a little closer, "Just trust me, I promise it'll be fine."_

" _No... I" Castiel's tone darkened and he shook his head, "Dean I mean it. No."_

_Dean sighed and nodded, "Alright, I won't push it." He'd been trying to convince Castiel to, when he spread his wing, to let the other one out too. His angel had only been letting one of them get some air and no matter what he did he couldn't get Castiel to release the second wing. "But I promise I won't stare or say anything weird, you know me."_

" _I... I just can't." Castiel furrowed his brow and laid his head against his lover, "Please, don't ask me again."_

_Dean nodded again and kissed his angel's forehead, "You know you're still gorgeous no matter what, right?"_

" _It isn't about beauty. I'd wear a hideous scar proudly if I had one." Castiel retorted. "I can't... I can't fly anymore. And every time I look at that useless stump I just..."_

_Dean shut up then and wrapped his arms around Castiel, holding him as closely as possible and petting a hand through his dark hair repeatedly. They didn't say anything else after that, Dean knew how much Castiel loved flying, the feeling of it and just everything it symbolized. It was a sacrifice he'd made for their goal, something Dean wouldn't ever forget. "I love you, Cas."_

_Castiel curled up against him, a small smile creeping onto his face. As much as he knew he'd lost it didn't matter, he still had Dean and he'd saved his siblings as he'd promised, losing a limb over that was a cheap price to pay. "I love you too, Dean."_

* * *

The news had gone insane in the past half hour. Sam had been briefed on the first known situation of a bombing and in the matter of thirty minutes he was swamped with similar stories all over the country, and not just the country but he soon realized the entire globe had been hit by the same terrorist attack. A massive strike against the Angel and Human relations portion of the governments everywhere happened simultaneously; leaders in the field were either struck down on the streets, assassinated in their homes, or blown apart in large gatherings.

Like the one on Capitol Hill.

Sam wasn't an idiot, he knew Dean and Castiel had gone to that assembly; they were the main focus of it even. He was trying his hardest to find out what was going on over there, he was about four states away and as much as he'd like to get Gabriel to zip him over there, he had a job to do. People were panicking, the world was in chaos and he had no idea how to stop it. Phone calls had started immediately after the first known attack and they just hadn't stopped. He had noticed that majority of the people that had died around the world had undeniably shady backgrounds in the angel-slavery black markets. Those dirty places were being shut down all of the time; every single one hunted down and dismantled as they cropped up. And even more strangely the leaders in anti-angel governments and movements had either been found mutilated grotesquely or had gone missing. Old employees for companies like Crystal Wings and the like were being targeted and were still being phoned in, Sam was sure of it.

"Sam!" Gabriel ran in and turned the TV on; there was only a TV in Sam's office because of Gabriel in the first place. "Check this out." The archangel flopped onto his couch and stared in quiet awe, drawing Sam's attention slowly until he saw a clear image flicker onto the screen.

It was a close up of a man's eyes, or, Sam assumed they were a man's because the voice speaking to them didn't sound feminine though the sharp look to the gaze almost had.  _"I'm sure you've all witnessed the beginning of our new movement. I hope you have enjoyed the show, friends."_  This guy sounded perfectly content and even like a nice person as he spoke, it was strange to hear such a friendly tone discuss the horrors that had just claimed thousands of lives, possibly more.  _"I have gone so far as to single out the most influential supporters of angels and humans living together, this kind of thing will no longer be tolerated. All of you who had persecuted us will now taste the same, you, humans, who collared us for decades then took them off and acted like it was all okay. I refuse to allow you to get away with it any further. It's taken a little while to break free of your hypocrisy and put a plan in motion but now I can finally say to you in honest,"_ The corners of his eyes shifted upward as if he were smiling widely, if not for the words he currently spoke he'd be a captivating speaker.  _"You're going to die. Have a wonderful day."_

The screen blipped back to a news anchor who stared off to the side with wide eyes, trying to gather what she should say next. "It seems that the terrorist attacks were not conducted by the Freedom Fighter group of ten years ago, as previously rumoured." As she went on Sam turned the volume down and paced back and forth, ignoring his phone for a moment.

"Who was that?" He looked down at Gabriel who shrugged, "Gabe, you have to recognize him, that was an angel, come on."

"Doesn't mean I-" Gabriel started to argue though his face fell a little when something dawned on him, "Wait a sec..." He turned back to the TV as if it'd jog his memory, "I kind of remember that voice... But it's been a long time since I've seen a lot of my brothers, I can't really say."

Sam nodded and ran a hand up through his hair. It made sense, it wasn't like angels had an unending memory, they could forget just like anyone else and if Gabriel hadn't seen this one in the last thirty years then it was okay for him to have forgotten. Except it'd be really nice if he hadn't, but, then again, when does anything ever go right first thing? Never. "Whoever he is we need to find him. To be able to broadcast that over all television stations he'd have to be in that country, or have a skilled hacker. This guy could literally be anywhere and the only thing in the video was him so there's no point in picking that up, though I'm going to get a copy anyway." Sam muttered his thoughts aloud so he could muddle through them, trying so hard not to panic about Dean.

All he wanted to do was grab the phone and call his brother's cell, over and over and over again. He needed to know if Dean was okay, everyone needed to know if Dean and Castiel were okay because right now it'd be nice to see symbols of peace. Sam just wanted his brother. As he made a few phone calls to the right people, securing that video tape for himself he found the itching in his mind unbearable. He couldn't think straight without at least knowing the damages that had been done. He also knew that this soon after the destruction no one would have any answers for him. Not unless he went there himself.

* * *

"First warning has been issued." A wide smile spread his lips and he rolled his head over to look at his partner, "Sounded good to you, Zeruch?"

"Sounded fine, Haniel." Zeruch answered without much of an inclination to his mood. His arms were crossed over his chest in a very closed off manner, his eyes narrowed as he stared down at the screen Haniel had been sitting in front of, "What's our next move?"

"More of the same, for now." Haniel answered as he stood, stretching his arms and legs as if they'd gotten stiff from just sitting for those last few minutes. He walked over to a window, leaning against the frame as he smiled down at the view below, "It's strange, isn't it? How so many angels can so easily accept that this is how they will be treated for the rest of eternity." Brown eyes squinting slightly, the sun catching and reflecting the gold flecks in a way that made them shimmer. Zeruch fought off a shuddering feeling watching his superior, the slender form and almost playful way Haniel did things were the biggest factors in why Zeruch found him creepy as hell. But of course, the cheerful air about Haniel was probably due in part to the fact that he was the angel of joy.

' _Odd to think someone planning this kind of movement is supposed to be the guardian happiness... Then again he's never been right in the head from what I can remember.'_  Zeruch walked over to the window and looked down, the yard below them bustling with bodies, several returning from their missions, some even with bloodied wings.

"Gorgeous." Haniel turned and walked away again, a hand running up through curly locks of golden brown hair, pausing briefly to look up at the wall with a smile. "They always looked better soaked in blood."

Zeruch followed Haniel's gaze to the mounted set of wings, massive and spread open for a dazzlingly morbid display. He wasn't sure what to say to that really, it all seemed completely messed up in its own right. He wondered how someone could think that of their own kind. It made sense though, Haniel, the seraph that watched over the third heaven where the gates to hell lay, couldn't be expected to not end up twisted into that kind of thinking. One of the highest standing commanders over the armies of heaven, Haniel had been greatly respected before the fall of their homeland. Thirty years on earth, Zeruch didn't want to know the kinds of things that happened to everyone during that time, especially to make the angel he respected as his commander and trainer act this way. As odd and as scary as he had been, Haniel never went for bloodshed outright. Or, at least not from what Zeruch had ever seen.

"I suppose you wouldn't agree?" Haniel turned his silver-tongued words directly toward Zeruch now, laced in his usual smooth tone masking what he was really getting at. Friendly, pleasant, always smiling, and as suave as they come, one might never know Haniel had just caused the deaths of thousands of men and angels.

"I can't say I like the idea of seeing an angel's wings torn out and mounted." Zeruch muttered his reply while making sure there was a specific lack of emotion in it. Brushing a long stray lock of blonde hair from his face he marched past his superior without even a glance, "After what happened I'm not terribly fond of seeing any angels' wings soaked in blood."

Haniel chuckled, watching his partner's retreating back, "Of course, how silly of me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am taking creative liberties with the angelic hierarchies because they can be interpreted many ways and there is no right or wrong way to go about doing it (unless I said 'Lucifer was actually a sheep'). I've seen it handled in a variety of different set ups and this is how this universe is going to be doing it. Thank you all and I hope you can respect my choice :)


	3. Chapter 3

Gabriel touched down after Sam, his long standing partner was so much taller than him it was ridiculous. They'd left their office and abandoned the ringing phone, though Sam's cell went off periodically to indicate people were still madly trying to get a hold of him. The area was decimated, Capitol Hill had been  _levelled_. "Dean!" Sam shouted as he ran toward the wreckage, his progress forward was suddenly halted when his angel caught his arm, not allowing him to budge. "Gabriel let go, I need to find Dean."

"Sam, that  _just_  happened. Not even an hour ago, it's not stable and it's not safe." Gabriel warned seriously, "I'm not letting you run in there."

"You brought me here knowing I would," Sam frowned and pulled away, "You said it yourself, it happened less than an hour ago meaning what did this might still be here." He looked up at the building determinedly hiding the frightened glint in his eyes. "Considering who had been targeted, the shady, ugly anti-angel individuals all around the world and those who had a hand in the enslavement era, it doesn't make sense that they'd target this meeting. Either someone present was a  _really_  bad person or whoever is leading this revolution doesn't like any human."

"He did say that the human and angel coexistence supporters wouldn't be tolerated anymore." Gabriel nodded, firmly deciding that even though he couldn't stop Sam from running inside at least he'd protect the dumbass. "This attack is probably his symbol for that."

Sam swallowed nervously, something in him telling him that it was a little more than that. People didn't just attack Capitol Hill, when it just happened to have Dean and Castiel inside? Not likely. He ran toward the wreckage, taking in just how horrific the sight was. Not only had the building been levelled and crunched down to the ground but there were also bodies strewn about as well. Blood soaked parts of the rubble and had splattered all throughout the mess, majority of it was probably where the assembly had been held. Sam closed his eyes and took a deep breath, no sense in panicking, there was absolutely no point to panicking. He told himself this over and over but it didn't seem to help, his heart rate increased as he ran around the side of the building looking for a way someone could have gotten out.

There were other officers on the scene and several rescue teams though it didn't look like any of them were having any luck. "DEAN!" Sam shouted, his voice nearly cracked as he screamed his brother's name over and over again, straining and growing hoarse quickly as he tried to find Dean and his angel. He stared at the mess helplessly, the way the walls had blown out in some places, had crumbled in others. If Dean and Castiel had been in the spaces where everything fell flat then there was no chance they had gotten out. "Dean..." Sam whispered after hunting around the entire building, looking for any possible chance his brother had survived, any way he could get into the building but there wasn't any space he could get into, it was flat to the ground.

Gabriel put a hand on Sam's shoulder though he remained silent. His could feel his heart rate increase awkwardly as fear gripped him firmly, Dean and Castiel were family, very important family and now... Well now he might have a long road of recovery to help Sam with, grief was never an easy thing.

A long and agonized groan caught Sam's ears, burned them like nothing else. That sounded like Castiel. "Cas?" Sam called, looking around frantically, his heart in his throat. His sharp eyes caught a glimpse of a feathered mass in the trees above him, squinting a bit he could see two sets of legs, Dean was with him. "Oh my god, Dean! Is he okay? Are you okay?" He ran over and reached up, trying to help detangle the clearly bruised angel.

"Ow..." Castiel grunted from Sam's touch but didn't say much more than that as he rolled his head around to look at Dean again, blood dripping from his husband's temple and numerous other places. "Dean?" He whispered before Gabriel hopped up to dislodge them, a long whimpering moan escaped him as his wing was slowly manoeuvred around the branches.

Gabriel winced when he pulled some debris from its place embedded in the soft downy near Castiel's back.  _'Has this angel not suffered enough trauma to his wings already!'_  He thought bitterly, finally breaking enough branches and wriggling the two victims loose to hand them down to Sam. Castiel refused to let go of Dean, absolutely would have nothing to do with the thought. "Hang in there, tough guy." Gabriel murmured, gently lowering his brother to Sam's open arms, both rescuers trying to be as careful as possible.

Dean flinched and opened his eyes, "Cas?" He asked wildly, flailing just in time to knock Gabriel's loosened grip free and drop them entirely into Sam's waiting arms. Dean wailed immediately following the motion, his entire body feeling like it was on fire, pain shooting to every orifice he had, making his muscles spasm which only sent him into a further violent thrashing as his brain was wracked by the pain receptors' signals. He only discovered after moving that he'd broken too many bones to count in his hazy mind, his body had multiple cuts and bruises though mostly he'd been skewered through in a few places by the tree they'd end up in, similarly to his angel.

Castiel wrapped his arms more firmly around the tensing body pressed against him, trying to calm the frightened and agonized reaction. "Dean," Castiel tried to speak strongly though his voice shook just as much as his partner's, "Calm down, Dean please." He urged, not even realizing that Sam had lowered them to the ground, trying to hold his brother's legs down and keep him from causing himself to hurt further.

Gabriel placed a hand to Dean's forehead, a bright light shining briefly as they heard the disturbing sound of bones shifting for a split second. "There, see? I can think in tight spots." Gabriel grinned getting a thankful look from his long standing partner.

"Dean?" Castiel nudged his lover fearfully, scared for the worst. Dean slowly lifted his head, a bit delirious but otherwise appearing to be okay.

"Cas? Cas are you alright?" Dean frantically turned himself around, grasping ridiculously at the front of his angel's shirt to help in the shift.

"I'm fine," Castiel sighed in relief and pressed his forehead to Dean's, they both closed their eyes to feel out the other's mental state. It was too easy to connect; they always were these days unless they were unconscious. It was a nice way to wake up in the mornings and in a moment of panic like this it was the simplest, purest way to collect themselves. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you..."

"Don't worry about it," Dean smiled then turned his gaze to Sam, "What the hell was that? What happened?"

"I guess from where you're sitting," Sam smiled despite the situation and the fact that Dean had been so fatally injured moments before, he was just really glad to have Dean talking to him, yelling or otherwise. "It kind of looks like a random out of the blue occurrence, huh?"

"Yeah, why? What was it?" Dean furrowed his brow, glancing over at where he expected to see a big brilliant building and was thoroughly shocked. "What..." He gaped uselessly at the mess, seeing some authorities motioning toward them and another shaking their head (obviously the presence of Sam Winchester and his archangel Gabriel meant no further action be taken).

"I'm not sure how to tell you this," Sam shook his head and ran a hand up through his dampened hair, looking for the words to use so that his brother wouldn't throw a bigger fit. But how could he not be upset? Who wouldn't be? Thousands upon thousands of people were dead all around the world and what for? Sam didn't even really know. How could he answer Dean's questions? Whatever the case, he figured it'd be best to try. "As Capitol Hill was hit, so were several other buildings housing anti-angel supporters. People who were adamantly against angels having equal rights, people who used to work for Crystal Wings or the angel entertainment branching, all dead. Or, at least I assume they are. The group that did this was thorough-"

"There was a  _group_  that did this?" Dean asked in complete anger, "So then they have a leader." He looked over at Castiel who frowned deeply.

"Maybe if we meet with their leader we can talk them down from this." Castiel muttered as he pulled himself and, subsequently, Dean to their feet. "There's not taking back the bloodshed but there is no reason to cause more. What did he say their name was?"

Sam shook his head, a little surprised by the way these two were going about this, "You want to  _talk_  to them? Are you retarded? They tried to kill you just now, a legitimate attempt on your lives. This meeting was about angel-human relations, nothing to do with anti-angel agendas and yet they still  _flattened_  the freaking Congress house! They were after  _you_ , Dean. You and Cas."

"Obviously they're strong enough to blast Cas and I to hell and back," Dean retorted angrily, "I'd much rather figure out what their problem is and fix it without fighting them."

"Are you scared?" Sam asked incredulously.

"No, I just don't agree with fighting anymore." Dean shook his head and looked to Castiel who nodded firmly. "We finished with that years ago, Sam. Fighting doesn't solve anything."

Sam looked at Gabriel, at a loss as to what to say. The archangel shrugged, not helping either. "Alright," Sam turned back to Dean and nodded understandingly, "I get that, I do. But you have to realize when not fighting isn't going to solve the issue either. Dean, take it from someone who's been there, sometimes it's necessary to stand up and fight back a little bit. They'll be making a task force for this, join me. You guys can't sit on the sidelines of this fight."

"And we won't," Castiel assured him, "But let us try and handle it our way, alright? We've done it our way for a long time and we haven't steered wrong yet."

"There's a first for everything, Cas." Sam muttered but nodded anyway. "Suit yourselves." He patted Dean's shoulder with a relieved smile, "I'm just glad to see you two are alive after all this. I uh..." he glanced at Gabriel again then back to his brother, "I left my duties back in my office, I should probably get back to that and settle this little angel scare."

"Right," Dean nodded and smiled back, "Though, what did the group say?"

"It was just a short clip on the news, like I used to do. All we could see were a close up of golden eyes, if it weren't for what he was actually saying though, I would have assumed he was talking about baking cookies or something, not what he said." Sam shook his head, knowing the next question out of Dean's mouth, a repeat of the previous one. "He said he would no longer tolerate the sentiment that angels and humans could live together. He was upset that after twenty years of slavery and the collars came off, humans acted like nothing had happened. I don't think he's looking for compensation at this point, though."

Dean nodded and sighed, "Looks like we'll have to try and talk to them a few times then. I doubt reconciling this will happen on the first go around."

"I don't think so either." Castiel agreed before looking up at Gabriel, "Who was it?"

"I don't remember." Gabriel shook his head dejectedly. "Sounded familiar though. I think it was one of the higher up types-"

"Wait," Castiel interrupted, his face lighting up in a way that only occurred when you recognized someone. "You said if it weren't for what he was saying you would have assumed he was talking about cookies?"

"Yeah," Sam raised an eyebrow, "You know who it is, Cas?"

"Well golden eyes ring a bell... Did you see hair? Was it curled?"

Gabriel lit up after that, "OH! I know who you're thinking of! Yeah, yeah it had to have been him!"

"Who!" Both Winchesters shouted when their patience flopped.

"Haniel." The angels answered in unison as well, Castiel continued, "Angel of joy, one of the seraphim and leader of the third heaven."

"What does that mean, exactly?" Dean glanced at Sam who looked like he was pondering the significance of it. "And what kind of joyous angel is he if he does that kind of crap?"

"An angry one." Gabriel crossed his arms over his chest and mimicked Sam's expression of thoughtfulness, whether it had been on purpose or an unconscious thing Dean had no idea. "The third heaven was where the gates to hell were located, back before the entire place fell apart Haniel was in charge of it. He was always a friendly guy, really easy to get along with, but he had a dark streak too."

"Wasn't the third heaven where most of heaven's army was trained?" Castiel asked, trying to recall everything as it had once been though his memories were a bit faulty. "The third heaven was constantly in a state 'prepared for war' just in case something went wrong with the gate."

"Right," Gabriel nodded, "So Haniel was also one of our greatest generals and trainers."

"Sounds like this guy had a lot put on his plate." Dean mused, "There's got to be a way to talk to him, we'll send a message out. Come on, Cas. Let's go see if we can round up a TV crew or something."

Sam caught his brother's arm firmly, "Dean, be careful okay?"

"Come on, Sammy, it's me." Dean grinned though he did move to hug his little brother tightly, "But yeah, you know I will be."

"Take me with you if you're going to confront him, understood?" Sam urged, squeezing Dean before stepping back, looking directly into his eyes like he always did.

"If we do, I'll bring you with." Dean nodded and they shook on it, "Promise."


	4. Chapter 4

_Long flowing robes dragging behind him, some kind of ridiculous synthetic breeze that caught his hair and ruffled his feathers; Haniel inhaled slowly and let it out in a long and calm manner. His lips constantly curled in some kind of a smile though at that moment he hadn't had the peace of mind to really hold it to its usual potential. Other angels that passed him by knew exactly why, too. There had been a breach in the third heaven recently, a wave of hideous hellish monsters flowing through in droves. Haniel had assembled his Powers, the title given to all of the angels built for warfare. They hadn't needed much instruction other than where each squadron should go, Haniel knew they could handle this._

_The demons proved to be much more prepared for this than he had originally thought. The Power angels ended up scattered a little, the other heavens had to start defending themselves though the ones housing weaker angels like cupids and the like struggled a lot more than the rest. Haniel ordered his powers to focus on the gate, get it closed._

_That was all before a larger-than-life blast wave from the seventh heaven cracked through everything around them. If it hadn't been for the one angel flying in to rescue Zeruch, shouting a warning about the oncoming strike, Haniel never would have made it out of the way. And a lot of his angels weren't as lucky as himself. As much as the attack had worked, hordes of demons disintegrated in one go and the gates to hell cleared to be closed, it was infuriating for Haniel. He'd never felt such a strong wave of anger over him._

_But that didn't matter. Not now as he angrily forced his way to the highest heaven to speak with the other seraphim and archangels. The anger he felt wasn't because his gate had been crashed, wasn't because they'd almost killed him, it was because he lost a lot of good powers, almost lost his best one if it hadn't been for the cherub Rochel (Zeruch's friend, he assumed), he would have. Haniel flung the doors open and felt his face tense in the rage coursing through him. His expression hadn't gone unnoticed._

" _What the hell was that?" He demanded, looking straight to the archangels in charge though there were only two._

" _It was a necessary move, Haniel." Raphael insisted firmly, always the pain in the ass._

 _Haniel could care less about what was necessary, really. Hell,_ he _was the one who actually opened the gate in the first place. Things needed to be shaken up, their fighting capabilities were getting rusty and he needed to know if they could hold their own against a sudden attack, so he organized the demons and roused them into attacking heaven's gates. He found it necessary to do it so he was far from able to argue, that didn't mean he wasn't still pissed off. "I get that much, but you didn't even warn us before blasting a hole through my ranks! I lost good angels out there, what is wrong with you? They are the strength of heaven's army and you want to blow them to pieces?"_

_A false charade. Haniel was well aware that his anger was fake. He was a pretender, an angel that had succumbed to the boredom of their orders long ago. A pressure put on him from God Himself, watch the gateway to nightmares and make sure no demons crawl through. If they do, you will have an army to command but you need to keep them at the top of their game. He could handle it no problem, he had for centuries. But at the same time he knew the stories and prospects that came with living so close to sin and corruption. If any angel in the heavens would end up fallen, it was more likely to be one of the third, Haniel had to kill more than one fallen angel every so often and most of the time they were under his watch._

" _More can be trained." Michael said next, "We are the most powerful angels in heaven; we are the strength of heaven." The pure arrogance coming from this angel's mouth, it was disgusting. Haniel stepped forward threateningly but stopped and instead his face broke into that calm smile it usually held, he'd found it again._

" _You know, some day that kind of thinking will be your downfall." He'd dared to say to the archangels and knew he wouldn't get away with it. But that didn't matter; his mind was whirling on itself, a new thought enlightening him. "But fine, we closed the gate and my angels have finished clean up duty. Everything's back to its usual old ways now, right? All peaceful and absolutely no need for any more thinking on the grunts' part."_

_Michael raised an eyebrow at the seraph smiling at him, something didn't sit right in his stomach about that grin but he didn't have strong enough feelings toward it to be upset by it. Haniel would be Haniel, a strong angel to be sure and an asset if he were on their side. But that had been questionable for centuries now. Regardless, he let that first comment slide, "Things will go back to how they were, but I want you to strengthen the gate. This can never happen again."_

" _Of course." Haniel said politely and gave a quick bow of his head before turning and striding out, a broad grin on his face. The angels that watched him go in were concerned but really they didn't know what to say, Haniel smiled like that a good 50% of the time. As he headed back down toward his heaven, turning a corner he brushed shoulders with a shorter angel, one with no rank of importance. Sharp golden eyes scanned down and caught a glimpse of bright blue as they snapped up to meet his gaze._

" _I am so sorry," the dark haired angel bowed low, stepping back to give the seraph his space. "I did not mean to-"_

" _It's fine." Haniel reached over and tilted the angel's face upward, leaning a little closer to inspect it. "You're part of the Garrison stationed to watch the humans, right? What's your name, soldier?"_

" _Castiel," the blue-eyed male replied quickly though he shifted his head to the side slightly, "You can tell I'm part of the Garrison?"_

" _It's written on your face, you've seen and done more than many of the useless higher ups over on this end." Haniel chuckled and let go of the stunned face, "Never lose that, by the way, that look you have." He waved sweetly and strolled away, a soft hum in his throat._

_Castiel stared after the seraph strangely before remembering he had work to do and ran along, not wanting to spend too much more time in the seventh heaven._

* * *

"Sam, I really think we should go back there and drag their political butts into this." Gabriel grumbled as Sam finally finished with the last of the phone calls and had started gathering the papers necessary to start the task force. He was in charge of it, obviously. Angel crimes were his thing and it'd be ridiculous to send anyone else on this one.

"Dean and Cas are doing it their way. Like Cas said, they've done it for a long time and I trust that they know what they're doing." Sam scanned through a few profiles on his computer, looking for the best team to get together, "Though personally I think they're wrong this time."

"Then why not get them?" Gabriel leaned over the desk, closer to his partner and lover. "They're the strongest team this side of the fence has to offer."

"They're stubborn. Dean said no and he means it." He shook his head tiredly, "It doesn't matter if I begged him to help out, he wouldn't." Just then his phone went off again, a long and exhausted sigh escaping him. He thought he was done with this. "Hello, Sam Winchester-"

" _Help us!"_  A woman's voice shrieked over the line, getting Sam to his feet immediately.  _"There are angels everywhere, they're killing the-"_  A sickening hacking sound followed her words and the line went silent.

"Shit... Gabriel do you know where that was?"

"I've got an idea." Gabriel grabbed Sam's arm and lifted him up, taking off for what they both knew would be another massacre. Apparently Haniel's group hadn't finished with eradicating all the anti-angel supporters, or maybe he was just taking people out.

Where they landed was new to Sam, it wasn't exactly within his district but apparently someone was aware enough of the angel-relations government and law set up that they knew to call him for help. They stood outside a rather large building, one with a look that Sam recognized to be a little bit sketchy. He'd been handling these kinds of places for the last ten years; he recognized the foreboding feeling of bad news when he felt it. Regardless of the nervous twitch in the back of his mind he walked inside, pushing open the doors to see a regular office building lobby, it seemed perfectly normal aside from the splattered corpses spread throughout.

They were everywhere. This building had been full of people at work before Sam arrived, before a group of angel rebels got to them. His stomach churned sickly and he walked further inside, almost unaware of the way Gabriel paused at the door, almost too distracted by the mess around him to know that the building was utterly silent. Sam closed his eyes and shook his head, what the hell had these people done to deserve this?

"Sam..." Gabriel's voice was weaker, alarming for his partner who quickly whirled around to see him. "I... I don't like this place." The archangel shifted uncomfortably and touched his chest, a slight flicker of light showing his contact with his grace. "It feels wrong, familiar but..."

Sam's eyes widened and he looked around again, "Is it the 'Crystal Wings' kind of familiar and wrong?"

"Yeah, actually. There're are enochian sigils around here somewhere I think." He looked around and then down, "Below... they're below us. Aw for Christ's sake, are you serious? In an office building?"

Ignoring the feeling of rage bubbling in his stomach, Sam remembered why he was here. These people were being slaughtered (had been), despite their questionable actions they had called him for help. And despite his feelings of how much they deserved this, he knew better than to react that way. He took a quick breath and headed for the elevator, down was where they had to go then. He didn't doubt that everything above them was a bloody mess and there was no way they could resurrect the dead so he saw no point in horrifying his senses with the sights and smells of it all. Just then the elevator dinged. Sam stepped back from it; he hadn't pushed the button yet.

The door's opened and several angels pushed past him, most of them in a hurried, injured run, healing as they got further and further away from the seals around them. "Hey, wait!" Gabriel called after them but none stopped to listen, battered and beaten wings protruding from their backs and they flew, as fast as they could away from the scene. Some couldn't fly yet and instead continued their run down the street, frantic cries and frightened sobs filling the room with sound.

Sam looked back at the elevator as one angel walked out calmly, long blonde hair flowing down his back in waves, curling at the ends of nearly every gathered bunch. He looked up with a hardened gaze, at first mistaking them for more of the 'office workers', though Sam doubted that the office workers were really focused on actual office tasks. The angel's expression lightened slightly when he recognized the team standing before him. "It's you." He spoke in a deeper tone, one laden with some kind of grief that Sam couldn't place.

"Sam and Gabriel," The younger Winchester introduced quickly, "And you are?"

"Zeruch, angel of strength." He extended a long arm toward Sam and shook his hand briefly before passing them by. "It's good to meet you; I appreciate what you've done for us in the past." He said simply, a long coat flowing behind him, only adding to the effect his hair gave. "That's why I'm going to spare you today, but know this much; today is a onetime thing."

Sam stared after the angel's retreating back and frowned, he wasn't going to take that lying down. He booked it to the doors and outside, "Hey!" He shouted before he saw the man standing at Zeruch's side down the front steps of the building, curly light brown hair, a smile and Sam would be damned if he didn't recognize those eyes. "Haniel?"

The sharply dressed man looked up and his smile widened, if that was even possible. "Oh, you must be Sam, one of the Winchesters." He glanced at the archangel stepping up beside his human protectively, "It's been far too long, Gabriel. I hope the humans have treated you well enough."

"Perfectly, thank you. What're you up to now, Haniel? Being mildly crazy isn't good enough anymore?"

"No one was ever mildly crazy," Haniel lifted a finger and waggled it back and forth accusingly. "We're all just good at playing the sane game. But playing isn't enough anymore, not for any situation." Haniel shifted his gaze to Zeruch and back to Sam, "I've been told you're being spared today, Sam. So I'll bid you a fond farewell, I hope we see each other again soon because I was really looking forward to this."

"I'm not going anywhere, Haniel." Sam frowned and started forward, his mind linking the bond between Gabriel and himself, his archangel's wings spreading out magnificently behind him. "You're going to answer for what you've done, not just here but for the places all over the world that you attacked. You've got a lot of blood on your hands, I want to know why."

"I'm going to answer for what I've done, hm?" Haniel brightened and pat Zeruch on the shoulder, "Sorry, old friend. Sparing them one hundred percent won't be possible today, rain check on that one." He stepped aside a little as Zeruch's wings spread, not as large as Gabriel's many sets but they were the biggest any other angel of his rank owned.

"I tried." Zeruch muttered in reply, his eyes fixed on Gabriel's.

Sam glanced over at his angel, knowing they both understood this fight should go down quickly. Haniel and Zeruch were both angels, they had no humans to bond with and therefore Sam and Gabriel were stronger by default. "Let's end this."

"You got it, babe." Gabriel smiled and burst forward, his first attack connecting with Zeruch's in a brilliant flash of light and energy, sending everything in the vicinity back several feet.

Sam ended up pressed against the building; his eyes squeezed shut from the force of it. He looked up to see if it was over yet and realized he'd underestimated Zeruch's strength, though at the same time he was wondering why Haniel wasn't attacking. Sam's gaze shifted to where the other angel had been standing, seeing the tall man approaching him casually, that smile still on his lips. "Why aren't you fighting Gabriel?" Sam asked defensively, thinking this might be the day he goes toe-to-toe with an angel on his own.

"I am," Haniel glanced over at Zeruch, watching the way both fighters did their best to keep one another away from the two on the ground. "You see, it isn't so hard to be a human." He lifted up a pendant, glowing and shining blindingly around his neck. "It's pretty, isn't it?" He laughed softly before tucking it back beneath his shirt. "My grace, took a lot but I managed to rip it out."

Sam stared at this man in horror, an angel that would do that to himself... "Why?"

"Because. I'm sure you're aware of the strength a bond can make, and while I can never be any angel's perfect master, soul mate, whatever, I can still strengthen a fighter a significant amount." Haniel explained, lifting a hand up and touching it to Sam's shoulder, "So I am nothing more than human, like yourself."

Sam smirked, "Which means you're not nearly as strong as you think you are." He wound up to hit the other man but found he hit absolutely nothing. Haniel had dodged it easily, stepping around him like nothing Sam had ever seen.

"You forget, I've been alive for forever." Haniel's voice was like silk and if not for the grasp he had on the back of Sam's neck, the younger Winchester would have expected something a lot more pleasant to follow that sound. "And you know there's more to becoming human than just pulling out my grace, right? That only leaves me as a hollowed-out angel. It's actually very, very painful to leave myself that way. I've gotta say, I almost couldn't finish the job."

Sam didn't dare flinch, knowing full well Haniel could break his neck if he needed to, "What else did you have to do?" He asked, hoping to stall, that Gabriel wouldn't be too busy.

The ground shook as the two angels battled it out, evenly matched which scared Sam just a little bit. "A little spell here, some carvings there. All in all it took me much longer than I had expected. Now, since I have you here and we're getting to know each other, tell me, how are Dean and Castiel?"

Sam grunted when he felt the pinching on his nerves, Haniel's grip had tightened, a sign that he had no pleasure in speaking those names. "They're alive and well," Sam smiled a little, "Looks like you big attack missed its actual targets."

"I didn't expect them to die, figured I'd test the perfect bond." Haniel shrugged, "Anyway it's getting late and I really should be going-"

"Not likely," Sam elbowed the ex-angel in the ribs and freed himself momentarily, just enough to stumble forward and look up just as Zeruch came face to face with him.

"You got distracted, Sam." Haniel smiled, nodding toward Gabriel's still form on the pavement. "Even the slightest bit of distraction from the battle could cost you dearly."

"Gabriel?" Sam called but got no answer, realizing their bond had disconnected then and feeling much less confident. "GABRIEL!"

"He won't answer you." Zeruch raised a hand and the ground started to quake again, more severely and it only got worse. Sam watched as several buildings imploded on themselves, energy gathering from the surrounding area quickly, all in the palm of Zeruch's hand.

Sam moved to run to his angel's side, not certain he'd make it there but he had to try. "Gabriel!"

Haniel's laugh was the last thing Sam heard as the world around him seemed to go completely silent. He heard the muffled sound of his heartbeat as if it were hidden beneath a layer of cotton and pudding. The town around them started breaking apart; he could see it cracking but heard none of it. Sam hit his knees at Gabriel's side and threw his arms around the unconscious angel, burying his face in Gabriel's chest, clinging tightly.


	5. Chapter 5

The news was all but on fire at this point. Dean and Castiel had been doing their best to keep things in order, answer all the questions they could but the uproars just kept coming, one after another after another. Government officials were calling them, asking for 'what the hell that was' and the 'what are you going to do about it' inquiries. It was enough to drive a person insane, and slowly, he was sure, it would. Castiel sighed heavily and dropped his head into his hands, exhaustion creeping in and making his eyelids feel incredibly heavy. "I don't know what to do anymore, Dean..."

"Just gotta keep this up," Dean answered solemnly, "We need to quell the rush of anxiety first and then we can try and make a statement to Haniel."

"How on earth are we supposed to do that?" Castiel stood again from his chair, their combined office seemed dreadfully small now. "You nearly died, I was impaled in several places too, we were almost just part of the body count. What can we possibly say that will calm any of these people down?" He ran hands up through his hair, gripping it and pulling gently before dropping his limbs again, "It was our job to stop any of this from happening, we're supposed to keep things in order and we couldn't... I just... I feel like we betrayed all of those people."

Dean glanced up and looked over the ragged angel leaning on his desk, tired blue eyes looking older than they should. "Cas, it'll be fine." he stood up and went to his partner's side, wrapping comforting arms around Castiel and holding him closely, "We'll solve it and everything's going to work out like it always does."

"I have a bad feeling about it..." Castiel muttered, burying his face against Dean's chest, his heart feeling heavier as he did so. "How do you know? How do you know it'll be okay? We need to find an angel and calm him down. He's obviously not alone in what he's thinking because he's got a group big enough to hit all of those places at once. I don't know... It's been ten years now, why are they acting up after all this time?"

"Angels are older; they'll live a lot longer than the rest of us." Dean whispered, "I'm guessing they take a little longer to piss off than humans." he reached down and tilted Castiel's head up so he could look at his face, "But we're handling it, alright? We're doing what we can to solve all of this and there's nothing else we should be worrying about. If we panic everyone else panics and then we've got a much bigger problem on our hands. One step at a time, okay?"

"But all of those people-"

"We were almost part of it, like you said. How were we expected to stop that? We nearly died too, Cas. In fact, I think you need to take a break." Dean pet his hand through the soft black hair on his partner's head, fingers caressing his scalp gently. "You're stressing out and that's not good for you or helping the situation any. Go lie down for a bit."

"No," Castiel shook his head and pushed himself off, getting up and walking over to the computer again to continue answering emails. "We're handling this together and I'm not going to sleep while you take all the calls."

"Suit yourself, though I offered." Dean shrugged, moving to sit at his desk again and looking at the new bits of news that had cropped up over the span of the day. It'd been about 12 to 15 hours since the original attacks. They had been rescued and Sam and Gabriel had gone on their way. It was nice to see his brother care and freak out as much as anyone else would, even though he was usually the stoic and strong-headed Sam Winchester. In that last half day people had no choice but to catch wind of the global terrorism. Individuals who had been on Dean and Castiel's side since the start, the side that begged for equality on all parts, rose up in protest against this new threat. However, oddly, the vast majority of them were humans. The angels didn't know who they were for, even though Castiel was the name they all chanted those years ago. It was a difficult decision because Haniel wasn't wrong; humankind had done awful things, treated it as normalcy to bind an intelligent being and treat them as slaves, and then let the collars go and acted like they'd all be next door neighbours for years.

The angels had a right to be angry but ten years later? Things had changed, everything shifted and now... well they had thought it all evened out. Castiel looked up at Dean with a wary glance, somehow it was slowly becoming obvious to all, there was no way angels and humans could live together peacefully without some kind of war breaking out. The thought was heavy and Castiel didn't want to consider it but neither of them could deny it either, instead they sat in silence, staring down at their work. They intended to keep things civil; they wanted to make sure that they could end this without further bloodshed. Castiel was no longer a fighter; he and Dean had retired from that ages ago. It was no longer their place to swing a sword or dominate the field with power.

"Cas," Dean broke the silence as he came across the most recent piece of news, "You need to see this."

Castiel stood and crossed the room to Dean's side, leaning over and peering down at the screen. His eyes widened as someone with a camera was running down the street, two angels were destroying half the block as they fought. There was a blur of blonde hair and wings, a lot of wings. "An archangel," Castiel murmured though the camera shook enough that he couldn't quite make out who, "Pale skin, smaller, I think it's Gabriel."

Dean swallowed thickly; wherever Gabriel was fighting Sam couldn't be far off. Just as the two were guessing as to who it was on screen the archangel present was crushed into the ground as if his strength had suddenly depleted, the cameraman was frantic and shouting things that were completely incomprehensible, several people who stood in the streets started booking it and soon he did as well. The last angle Dean and Castiel got of the battleground was a combination of the second angel strolling toward two other individuals, one of which was Sam and he was sorely outmatched, his angel down and facing off against a team.

"That was Haniel." Castiel's voice broke their silence, "He was fighting Haniel! What did he just ask us to do if we ever went toe-to-toe with that guy?" The angel was infuriated but he was too concerned with what was happening next to continue his rant. The civilian running with the camera hopped into a car with a friend and they started driving away as fast as possible, Dean noted that the shaking of the footage wasn't just because this guy sucked with technical equipment. The entire town area started crumbling, the block caving in on itself and the footage started to flicker and soon it cut off entirely.

Dean stared absently for a moment, his mind connecting the dots as to what he just saw.

" _That was footage from the disaster down on main street in a small town called Port Deposit in Maryland. It was filmed about forty five minutes ago; emergency crews are down there now, looking at the wreckage and doing what they can for the trapped and injured. No new clips have been sent in, the area is closed off and said to be dangerous. So far we have not received the number of injuries or deaths that have occurred but they are still counting."_

Dean shook slightly and looked up at Castiel's pale face. Not again. He couldn't lose Sam again. "We have to get down there."

Castiel stood staring with his mouth slightly open when the phone went off; he reached for it, a fumbling hand grasping the thing and lifting it to his ear, "Hello, Castiel speaking." His face darkened and he straightened up, "We... we saw." His heart felt like it was in his throat, pounding harder and harder, his free hand scrambling and grasping at Dean's shoulder for support. "Yes, we know a Sam Winchester... Yes, he would have been with the archangel Gabriel." He waited, holding his breath and closing his eyes tightly, "Please, is he alive?"

Dean stared up at Castiel with just as much intensity as his angel held, waiting for the reaction, waiting for anything. At first Castiel's eyes opened wide and after what felt like an eternity he let out a strangled laugh and wiped his eyes. "So he's okay?"

"Thank you, we'll be there soon." Castiel hung the phone up and nodded at Dean, "He's alive, he's being taken to the Harford Memorial Hospital in Havre de Grace Maryland along with a very unconscious Gabriel."

"What are we waiting for?" Dean stood and booked out, running straight for the Impala. As happy as he was to hear Sam wasn't dead, the fact that he'd come so close ate away at him. Sure, Sam was an adult and did things on his own but Dean was still his big brother, damn it. He had to look after his pesky twerp, failing to do so... well it meant he failed. And he didn't like that thought.

Castiel followed suit, his pace brisk but not as fast as Dean's. He wished he could just fly there like when Sam heard about them, he had probably taken flight with Gabriel as soon as word got out that Capitol Hill had been struck down. They had to drive. Sam would probably be healed up by his archangel and meet them in the car half way there. But regardless of his feelings about transportation Castiel hopped in the passenger's seat, not a single complaint leaving his lips. They had bigger concerns.

* * *

_"Come on, Cas." Dean urged happily, "Eyes closed or I swear I'll shave you bald."_

_"You wouldn't dare," Castiel snickered but complied regardless, "The blindfold is on and my eyes are closed, happy?"_

_"Yes, now keep it that way until I tell you." Dean warned playfully._

_"Right, right."_

_Dean led his partner through a maze of obstacles, mentally cursing himself for ever putting the surprise in such a ridiculously difficult area to get to. Okay, not that ridiculous if you could see, but obviously_

_Castiel couldn't see. It had been one year since their wedding; first anniversary and Dean had been trying to secretly organize this since day one. It was a sort of homage to the both of them but mostly it was for Castiel. In the center of a well known park in Kansas, a place he and Castiel visited often throughout the last year or so, Dean finally stopped his lover and stepped around behind him, "Okay we're here."_

_"Can I remove the blind fold now?" Castiel smirked, knowing Dean had a thing about surprising him. It was too tough to do, being an angel and all that. He had to make Castiel promise not to read into it through their bond or try and weasel it out of him. It was tough for both of them to leave it secret, what with Castiel's curiosity and natural charm that nearly forced Dean to spill the beans._

_"Let me." Dean insisted, untying the blinding device from his husband's eyes, "Now open them."_

_Blue eyes fluttered open, squinting slightly from the brightness of the sun. He gasped sharply and covered his mouth, staring at a larger-than-life marble statue of himself and Dean together, both wings arched in the dominating position, a stern look on both of their faces. Castiel stepped closer and touched his fingers to the statue of Dean, gently brushing over the details of his face. Everything was perfect, they looked exactly like the real thing, well, aside from the few minor things that Castiel had changed on Dean's version, whichever angel had done it didn't know the older Winchester as well as he did._

_"Dean... it's amazing." Castiel whispered in awe, stepping around it to inspect each part of it, amazed at the detail. He stopped and looked at the plaque on the front of it. The boldest letters stood out best to him, 'Upholders of peace, no matter what it takes'. "I love it."_

_"I knew you would." Dean wrapped his arms around his angel's waist and kissed the soft, tender flesh of his neck. "You look better than me in this one, I think."_

_"Heh, that's because I generally do." Castiel replied playfully, turning and kissing Dean back. Their eyes met when the gesture was broken and the angel felt a swelling of pride in his belly and fluttering in his heart. "Happy anniversary, Dean." He said softly, stealing another kiss for good measure, "I love you."_

_"I love you too, Cas."_


	6. Chapter 6

" _You can't do that and you know it." Sam frowned and tried to swat Gabriel from his lap._

" _Come on, no one's going to be here for like... ten minutes, I can do plenty in that time." Gabriel grinned, his fingers toying playfully with the undone button of Sam's pants. "Just a quick one?"_

_Sam's face was tinted red as he stared down in mock anger at his smiling partner, he really shouldn't give in to him, he should firmly say no and teach Gabriel that he couldn't always get what he wanted. But he wasn't quite up for seeing that sad face, the kicked-puppy look that both of them seemed to be experts in making but neither was immune to._

" _Alright." He finally said, not missing the successfully cheered 'yes' from Gabriel. "But if there's any mess I'll brutalize you."_

" _No problem, big guy." Gabriel smirked and leaned up to kiss his lover, Sam supported his back strongly and cradled him there for a moment. It was a sweet gesture, caring and for a moment Gabriel didn't want to move. However the temptation of Sam's nether regions calling him was much stronger than the need for love-filled sentiment._

_The archangel slipped to the floor and snapped his fingers, Sam's pants instantly undone and around his ankles, his arousal twitching slightly from the sudden cool breeze greeting it. "Hello," Gabriel stroked the length of it, earning a slow and pleasured moan from Sam, the taller male leaning back in his chair and relaxing slightly. "Yeah, you like that." He muttered, leaning down and licking the head of it, getting the sweet taste of his lover back on his tongue to savour for a moment longer._

_Sam's fingers wove through his partner's hair, inching along his skull slowly and grasping at the locks as Gabriel took the blood-swollen weight into his mouth. Sam gasped and moaned softly, his head rolling back, on hand coming up to cover his mouth and stop the sound from getting too loud. "Gabriel" he mumbled into his skin, his hips jerking upward though he tried to keep them down._

_His angel didn't seem to mind, though, welcoming the engorged flesh greedily into his mouth and dragging his teeth tenderly along the shaft. Gabriel groaned, loving the feeling of Sam on his lips, heavy on his tongue and shaking from his touch. The vibrations from his throat brought another soft cry from the squirming mass above him. Gabriel couldn't help but grin as he sucked harder, adding more pressure to an already excited erection. He reached down between Sam's legs and below his fleshy lollipop, fondling and affectionately playing with the warmed sack resting there, happily listening to the stifled gasps and mewling. Sam was adorable, always had been but every time they got into a sexual situation, especially if Sam wasn't ready for it, he went into 'cute mode' or something. A red flushed face, panting and moaning, eyes closed, and always with the hand in Gabriel's hair._

" _Ah. Ah. Oohhhhh Gabriel... Gabri-AH!" Sam shuddered and thrust up, his thighs tensing and pressing on his lover's shoulders, hips bucking forward without any real rhythm trying to match Gabriel's. He cried out louder before his hand pressed against his mouth again, twitching and finally filling Gabriel's cheeks with the sweet taste of his semen. Gabriel honestly appreciated Sam's diet of choice, it always made for an amazing breakfast._

_Sam slumped back in his chair and sighed, satisfied and happy. "Thanks, Gabe."_

" _More than welcome, sweet-cheeks." Gabriel stood, snapping his fingers and it was like he'd never gone down on him at all. "Now let's start this boring meeting."_

" _It's not a meeting, it's a debriefing before we take down that anti-angel congregation in-"_

" _I know, I know." Gabriel kissed him again, sharing the taste on his lips more than eagerly. "I'd just rather skip to the action."_

_Sam smiled, "You're annoying, you know that?"_

" _I know you love me."_

* * *

The lights were bright and a long, ugly ringing in his ears overpowered everything he might have heard.

The bright lights flickered by one at a time, darkness creeping at the corner of his vision.

They were pretty.

One went by, then two, swiftly and speeding up then slowing down without any kind of rhythm or rhyme to it.

Slowly the ringing faded out and he heard the muffled shouts of people, it sounded like it could have been medical jargon but he couldn't be certain. He didn't watch a lot of medical shows.

"Sam Winchester, you've been severely wounded-" A voice he didn't recognize murmured above him and he barely made out those few words.

Wounded? Him? He didn't quite recall it.

Where had he been? He remembered Dean, Castiel, and... Gabriel's unconscious and broken body crushed into the ground. Bright eyes sealed closed, wings mangled and spread out in a way they were never meant to be. He remembered running to him, but what was he running from? He remembered the earth shook beneath them but that could have been his knees quaking. He remembered it was loud; nothing made sense, though that could have been the thunder of his own heart. What happened?

"Gabriel..." he muttered, his arm reaching up and flailing uselessly, fumbling for the familiar touch of his angel. "Gabe?" He was surprised by his own weak voice, barely loud enough to be coherent. His mouth was dry; it felt like dirt had settled in it and mixed with the coppery taste of blood. He'd been in an accident? No... Gabriel had been hurt; an accident wouldn't have done that. Suddenly the image flashed behind his eyelids and he heard laughter, deeply amused laughter and a smiling face.  _'Haniel. We fought Haniel!'_  Sam groaned and tried to sit up but his body wouldn't move. "Where am I?" he asked a little panicked, "Where's Gabriel?"

"Calm down, Mr. Winchester. Your angel is being treated in the Angel ward. Relax, we'll-" Her voice sounded blurry again as Sam tried to focus on where the Angel ward was, if it were in the same hospital. He couldn't remember where he was, Gabriel had flown them to that smaller town and he was too distracted to ask.

" _You got distracted, Sam."_

He remembered the smooth voice; it wasn't taunting or condescending, just informing him.

" _Even the slightest bit of distraction from the battle can cost you dearly."_

He got distracted. He never lost focus, ever. He was good at that sort of thing. How in the world did he get distracted enough to warrant their bond being weakened? Haniel was an ancient being, an angel waltzing about as a human, he has knowledge of the human-angel bond that no other human could ever have. He'd be an expert in it, he'd know the weaknesses and he'd know exactly what to do when that weakness showed itself, no matter how small.

But that weakness wouldn't have been there if Sam hadn't caused it. He squeezed his eyes shut; trying to stop the tears from falling though they were persistent. "Gabriel..." he whispered, turning his head to the side and clenching his jaw, trying to keep it together. It was his fault Gabriel had gotten this hurt. It was  _his goddamn fault._  Gabriel would have been fine, he was an archangel, he was stronger than Zeruch, than Haniel. He never should have lost.  _'I'm so sorry Gabe...'_  Darkness encroached on everything, his thinking, his vision, his hearing, everything. He felt the weirdest sense of vertigo as he blacked out again, his mind shutting him out.

* * *

Dean and Castiel were a little tempted to take a detour, go to the town it'd happened in but they decided against it. They arrived at the hospital several hours later, running through to the receptionist, asking for Sam Winchester. It took a moment to prove he was Sam's family but they managed to get through, Dean hurried down the hall, noticing the quick steps of nurses and frantic faces. He glanced at Castiel who only returned it with an equally concerned expression, neither of them thought the nurses bustling around was odd but something didn't feel right.

"Excuse me," Dean caught one man's arm, "Sam Winchester, he's on this floor right?"

"Actually he's the one we're looking for," The nurse explained, motioning toward an empty room, "He's wandered off-"

"You  _lost_  him?" Dean asked, astounded. "How the hell can you-"

Castiel covered Dean's mouth and looked at the nurse seriously, "Where do you keep the injured angels?"

"The angel ward, first floor, follow the signs." The man wasn't in the mood to be yelled at and gladly pointed them away, hoping both would go.

Dean was involuntarily dragged by Castiel's insistent grip. "Cas, Sam's missing! We can't just wander to the angel side of this."

"Yes we can," Castiel muttered, "You're not thinking; where would you go if we had both been severely wounded and I was separated from you?"

Dean stared blankly for a moment and smacked himself in the forehead. "Duh. Alright, let's go."

They manoeuvred around the staff carefully, noticing that the angel ward was newer though it was much smaller. They didn't often get angels in there, obviously. It was a place for angels to rest though with their graces intact they could heal on their own, no problem. Castiel watched the signs carefully; taking him straight to rooms they'd keep the unconscious in for rest. He pushed the doors open and looked up at the tall man standing at one of the bedsides, his hospital gown clenched closed at his side, clearly the modest type.

"Sam," Castiel said softly, catching the younger man's attention, noting the stains of tears on his face before Sam quickly looked away again. "How are you feeling?" Castiel moved across the room silently until he stood at his old friend's side.

"Horrible." Sam answered hoarsely, his throat raw and sounding a little dry.

Dean had expected to find his brother bedridden and by all accounts, looking at the state Sam was in, he should be. His entire body was bruised and cut up, it looked like he was struggling to breathe and his stance was feeble at best. It wasn't easy to see his strong, proud brother broken down like this, but then again he'd seen Sam in a lot of different ways over the span of their lives, this image would soon be a faint memory as soon as Gabriel woke again.

"It's my fault..." Sam sobbed quietly, the motion seeming to pain him further.

"What happened?" Dean approached and looked down at Gabriel's pale and somewhat dishevelled form, lying perfectly still in a white gown with only the subtle beeps of the machines to tell them he was alive. It wasn't a pretty image either.

"There was a call from a facility that Haniel and his team were attacking... It was one of those hidden angel-slavery buildings, we found out when we got there, Gabriel could feel it. The angels were escaping when we arrived, all the humans were dead." Sam closed his eyes and placed a hand on Gabriel's shoulder, "We ran right into Haniel and his angel, Zeruch."

"Angel of strength, known as 'the arm of God'," Castiel looked down at his brother and shook his head, "A tough opponent on a good day..."

"I got distracted." Sam's tone was a little louder, anger rumbling in his throat. "I got distracted and Gabriel... next thing I knew he was unconscious and I... I..." His hands clenched into fists, arms shaking in the silence of the dimmed room. The only sounds they heard were the blips on the machines and Sam's ragged breathing. "Damn it!" He cursed and dropped to his knees, a movement that hurt him but he showed little signs of it. "Gabriel... I..."

Castiel knelt next to him and wrapped gentle arms around him, "It'll be okay," he whispered, a light glow coming from his hands and into Sam's skin, washing away the ugly bruising and scars. Physically he was healed, that's all Castiel could do instantly. "Gabriel will be fine once he wakes," he whispered into Sam's ear, rubbing soothing circles into his back.

Sam rested against Castiel, appreciating the angel's comfort. They'd been friends for a long time but it'd been a while since they were together so often, sometimes Sam forgot what it was like to have Castiel around. "Thanks, Cas." He whispered and leaned back, glancing up at Dean who smiled down at him.

"You two'll be on your feet again in no time and once you are you'll find those jerks and take them down," Dean reached over and ruffled his little brother's hair for old time's sake. "I'd bet on it."

Sam fixed his hair and smiled, "Yeah. Thanks Dean." He glanced at Gabriel again, looking at the way his skin was slowly regaining its colour, "So... are you two going to help now?" He looked up seriously, that determined glint in his eyes. He was still fighting with the guilt, knowing it was his fault but he'd settle it with Gabriel later. "Will you fight with us?"

Dean didn't shift but Sam noticed Castiel's body tensing. "I still think we can-"

"He's levelling whole parts of towns now, Dean!" Sam snapped, standing again, fully healed thanks to Castiel and ready to go. "You can't tell me you think he'll listen to reason!"

"I think the angels following him might, and without his back up he's just one angry guy." Dean stood firm, he was a man of peace now, fighting wasn't necessary, not yet. "We can appeal to the outraged angels, we can settle this without having to wage war-"

" _They are_." Sam growled out, "They're not just acting up Dean, they have strength behind them and they plan to use it, they want to wipe us out." He furrowed his brow and looked down at Gabriel again, his eyes never seeming to be able to stay away from the image for long, "I can't let them."

"I don't think they will," Dean insisted, though truthfully he understood where Sam was coming from. He was outraged and pissed that this was happening in the first place, that the angels would react like this after everything that had already happened. "We can do this diplomatically, angels and humans  _can_  live together without this kind of thing, I'm sure of it."

"I'm not." Sam admitted quietly and sat down in the chair next to Gabriel's bed, "I don't think that we can, Dean. Not all of us." He reached over and took his angel's hand in his own and held it firmly, "If you won't fight then you can go."

"Sam, I still want to help, we just don't want to be part of any battles." Dean said softly, Castiel rising to his feet again and standing at his husband's side.

Sam was quiet for a moment, finally lifting his head to look at them again, exhaustion clear in his features. "I'll call you, I guess."

It wasn't entirely convincing and Dean and Castiel refused to leave, sitting at Gabriel's side with Sam despite his urges for them to leave. They would not take the hint so when Sam broke down and cried, his head resting against his angel's chest, at least he still had some conscious company.


	7. Chapter 7

_Dean adjusted his collar and sighed heavily, "You know, I even hated wearing this thing at ours."_

" _Shh." Castiel hushed him, reaching over and fixing his tie. Where Castiel learned to tie a tie Dean will never know. "They were there for ours and we need to be respectful, Dean. Sam is a very well known individual, just like us. You can't make a scene and you can't look like an idiot tugging at your tuxedo."_

" _Who looks like an idiot?" Dean frowned, "Why'd he pick the hottest day of summer for an outdoors-"_

" _Dean, could you go check on your brother?" Mary asked sweetly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I'm a little worried, you know how he is."_

" _He's not gonna run if that's what you think." Dean smiled, "But alright, just because you asked." He gave Castiel a quick look, his angel raising an eyebrow at him briefly as he watched his retreating back._

" _He's acting like a child," Castiel muttered, "Always fidgeting with things he shouldn't, looking around constantly, he can't sit still..."_

" _Well it's kind of like giving Sam away, entrusting someone else to look after him. Dean's not good at that." Mary shrugged and gently stroked Castiel's arm, giving it a reassuring squeeze, "He'll be fine in a little while, just hang in there."_

" _Of course," Castiel smiled at her._

_Dean walked over to Sam's room and opened the door, "Sammy? You all ready to tie the big knot?" He entered the room to find his brother hunched over and mostly curled in on himself. "Sam?" Dean closed the distance between them swiftly and knelt next to his debilitated brother. "What's up?"_

" _I... I'm nervous." Sam looked up with red eyes, Dean could tell it was a bit more than nervous. "He's not the type to settle down, I don't know if-"_

" _Dude, he proposed to_ you _." Dean chuckled and rubbed soothing patterns in Sam's back, the fabric of his tux felt hot and a bit moist, he was sweating. Of course he was, it was a million degrees out there. "Nothing to be scared of."_

" _He did it because he thought that's what I wanted." Sam retorted anxiously, a hand running up through his hair, "What if he runs off? What if-"_

" _He loves you, Sam." Dean's tone was demanding and loud, his hands squeezing his brother's shoulders and forcing Sam to look at him. "Don't panic, don't think about it because if you worry then he will and then you have the self-fulfilling prophesy."_

" _You know the self-fulfilling prophesy?" Sam asked after a moment of collecting himself. "I'm impressed Dean."_

" _Shut up." Dean smiled and smacked Sam's face lightly, cupping his cheek for a moment, "You good or do I need to hit harder?"_

" _I... I think I'm okay." Sam's face brightened and they both stood, adjusting their suits in the same manner, tugging and fidgeting slightly with the collar. Sam glanced at Dean and laughed softly, reaching over and re-fixing the little mess made of Dean's tie, "Who did you up? Wasn't mom."_

" _Shut up two-fold, it was Cas."_

" _And on that note I won't mention it again." Sam grinned, his confidence slowly returning. "Thanks, Dean."_

" _No problem Sammy, now let's get you out there and married to that little twerp." Dean pat Sam's shoulder and started walking, a walk that Sam noted didn't look right in such a nice suit. Dean's bow-legs were appropriate in jeans and jeans alone, he thought amusedly._

" _Do me a favour," Sam caught up to Dean's stride easily thanks to his longer legs, "Take it easy on the roasting."_

" _No promises whatsoever." Dean's grin widened further._

" _Jerk."_

" _Bitch."_

* * *

"So what's the news with this new rebel group? What are you doing about it?"

"We're working on it, I'd first like to apologize to the people who have lost so much during all of this, we never meant for it to happen." Dean spoke to the press first, cameras and microphones in his face. As much as he was willing to answer their questions, however, Castiel was always the favourite. Dean glanced over at the angel who finally followed him outside. They'd decided to leave the hospital after Gabriel woke, he was in good enough condition and as soon as he was conscious he was adamant about taking off. It was a sort of hurried flutter of wings, desperate and scared as he snatched Sam up and went back to their office or home or wherever he said they were going in that flustered fast-talking way of his.

Castiel and Dean had arrived home and collapsed, both exhausted and stressed out and too tired to do anything. Castiel hadn't exactly slept but he lay in bed with Dean, picking up the phone when it went off at six in the morning. The press needed to speak with them, people were demanding answers. Dean was already aware they were going to have to talk about what happened at the angel-human relations meeting on Capitol Hill, he just wasn't up for it. Not after what happened to him and Castiel and now what happened with Sam and Gabriel.

But here they were, eight in the morning with reporters and other types right outside their front door. Castiel hadn't wanted to go out yet, not until he was ready to say something. Now that they were both outside, Dean had warmed up the reporters a little bit; Castiel stepped forward to take over.

"I would like to first announce we know who is doing this, his name is Haniel and I'm sure you can guess from his name, he is an angel. He's upset with mankind and after ten years is retaliating. He claims it's taken him this long to get on his feet though I'm not sure what that means, he could be saying he was still being held in captivity or perhaps it took him a while to gather comrades on his side. Either way, he is troubled and very dangerous." Blue eyes narrowed and he glanced along at all the uncertain faces, the fear in everyone's eyes and tried to ignore the anxiety boiling in him. "He is targeting prominent people in the field of human-angel relations, he is targeting anyone associated with Crystal Wings or possibly even Angel Entertainment of several years ago. And..."

Castiel took in every worried expression, part of him telling him not to say it, the rest saying they had a right to know. "I imagine, if we can't find a way to calm and appease Haniel's group, he will eventually target humankind in general."

"What are you doing to stop him?" Another reporter insisted, his microphone pushed a little closer to the angel's face.

Castiel stared up into the cameras, "I need to say something, brothers, sisters, I'm calling out to you now. Please reconsider what it is you're doing, yes, they were wrong in enslaving us but they are correcting themselves. You see all of the bad but none of the good; I know for a fact that our human neighbours mean us no harm as a whole. There may be a rotten patch here or there but as long as we isolate those incidents and remove them, the entire thing doesn't need to be harmed. Listen to me well, we can settle this peacefully, you needn't kill anyone else. I can help you, you know I can, if you'd just trust me in this, it can all work out."

They left the media with that and moved on to the Impala, moving out to discuss as a whole what the country was going to do about this. Castiel settled into the passenger's seat and closed his eyes, not caring that the cameras flashed around their car as they drove off. "I hope it works..."

"It will. We'll calm down the human side and we'll find a way to talk to the angels." Dean gave Castiel's thigh a reassuring squeeze, happy to see the small smile it spread over his lips. "It'll be fine."

Castiel had heard those words before, 'it'll be fine,' and every time it had been. He was glad for it but he didn't know what to do now to get them to that 'fine' point. He spoke to the media because he couldn't contact his displeased brethren, none of them were looking for his help and he knew it. They all had this under control, they were going to fight and they might even use his name as a battle cry. Castiel fought for us once, we will join him and fight for us now. It didn't matter if the angel was no longer a fighter, was named a symbol of peace, Castiel would always be a name connected to battle, a name used in rebellious outcries and revolutionary thought.

Regardless though, Dean was right. Now was not the time to whine or cry, now was a time to stand up and show the world why they were standing where they were. Why their names are household known, why the team of Dean and Castiel Winchester should be taken seriously. If the angels were going to fight against them then Castiel and Dean would take them on in their own way. Things were only beginning and somewhere deep in him he knew it was going to get worse. He couldn't just lie down and cry now, he was too old for that, he was always too old for that even when he was first born, or made or wherever he came from.

* * *

" _War_?" Dean snapped angrily, stepping forward to face up against the general that had suggested it. They were in the meeting of their lives, all the highest standing people in the American government were there, it was an emergency meeting and people were desperate. It'd only been an hour into the thing before the topic was brought up. "We can't fight them; it's too soon to rally any troops."

"Handling this in an orderly fashion doesn't seem to be that maniac's type. The angels are fighting against us," The general bellowed, his glare shifting toward Castiel, the only angel present. "They're asking  _us_  for war, we're simply giving it to them."

"Hold on now," The president raised a calm hand and looked over to Dean, "Do you have a plan?"

"Cas and I are going to reason with them further," Dean leaned forward on the table, his gaze shifting slightly from the obnoxious general to look at the man in charge. "We're going to get their side of the story and figure out a way to solve this without fighting them."

"If we demonize these angels now there will be nothing stopping people from seeing others in the same light." Castiel spoke next, not caring if it was his turn or otherwise. "We cannot fight them outright. What you are suggesting," he looked at the general with sharp blue eyes, subtle but accusing, "is an all out war between the races. Not every angel agrees with Haniel is doing, you can't do that."

"I think I speak for all of us when I say humans and angels can't co-exist peacefully." The general furrowed his brow angrily, his tone on the verge of being uncontrolled.

"That's an assumption you should keep to yourself, General." The president gave a warning stare, forcing the room to quiet down. He looked back to Dean and gave a serious nod, "I'll give you a month, if we don't see any improvements in that time we'll discuss more forceful ways of dealing with it. However, should Haniel continue his rampage we will have to take immediate action. There is a very high body count, Mr. Winchester."

"I know," Dean nodded solemnly, "Thank you, we won't let you down."

"See that you don't."

The meeting ended not long after, Castiel felt the cold stares of the men and women as he left the room, his blood slowly starting to boil. "Is this what it comes down to?" He looked at Dean with fury in his eyes, "All I've worked to achieve, dirtied and destroyed by one angel! They look at me like I'm the one who planned it all!"

Dean moved Castiel's outraged self away from the other gossiping and eavesdropping people. "Cas, calm down. You can't get mad about this. And it's not just one angel taking your image apart; it's a whole group of them."

"Why can't I get angry!" Castiel shouted, his voice growling and rumbling, echoing off the walls and along the clear hallway. "I've given so much to save my brothers and sisters, to free them and get them out of their slavery and shackles! This is what I get in return? They throw it all away because they're angry ten years later? This is bullshit! This is complete and utter bullshit!" The hall rumbled and shook with the force of Castiel's rage; Dean could feel the surges of strength behind his angel's emotions and tried to calm them. They were always connected, Castiel was always empowered by their bond and adding to that with his anger was not a good plan.

"Cas, I know you're pissed but we need to focus on what we're going to say to them." Dean glanced down for a moment, "A full scale attack isn't a good idea but maybe a smaller one might work."

"You mean like Sam's task force?" Castiel's tone was quieter now, no longer shaking the building.

"Maybe."

"We can't show any kind of force, Dean. Every violent move we make will be taken the wrong way and blown out of proportion. We may as well declare war against them ourselves if we want to go that route." The angel stalked toward the exit and the Impala, "I want to go home."

"Cas, can we talk about it?" Dean tried again, aware that his husband was infuriated beyond reason but he hoped he could at least calm that much.

"No. Take me home. Now." Castiel demanded without giving Dean another look.

"Why are you mad at me? I'm not agreeing with those assholes, I'm just trying to tell you-"

"I'm not mad at you, okay?" Castiel snapped, spinning on his heel and glaring at his lover, nothing more convincing than shouting. "I'm just... I'm frustrated and I want to go home."

Dean nodded and followed his pissy angel back to the car, it was going to be a long and stressful ride back, he knew that much for sure.

* * *

" _Did you know that a bond with a human increases an angel's strength?" Haniel muttered nonchalantly to whichever angel it was that had entered his quarters._

" _Haniel, what have you done?" It was the demanding and serious tone of another seraph._

" _Camael, how lovely of you to pop in." Haniel glanced up from his reading material with sparkling golden eyes. "What can I help you with?"_

_The angel of judgement pointed his staff Haniel's way, "I know this is your doing, explain yourself!"_

" _Camael, I haven't done anything, I swear." Haniel stood, his innocent face on full blast._

" _This has you written all over it." Camael glared, a strange look for someone who was usually so neutral. His dark hair slightly messy from the vicious winds capturing the heavens, his robes wrapped around him tightly, knuckles growing white as he clenched his fists. "Where is our Father?"_

" _What makes you think I know? I haven't seen Him in the last year or so, I think it was last year anyway..." Haniel was well aware his tone was too light-hearted to be fully believable. Why would he really try to lie to Camael? The angel of judgement would see right through it, it'd be a wasted effort and he'd wind up looking foolish. Not a good look for him, either. "God's making a choice right now." He said after his smile broke his attempts to pieces, "He has to choose what he wants to save and I'm really curious to know what he picks."_

" _Where have you been going? How did you manage to-" Camael's angry words were shaken and lost when a loud groaning echoed violently across the heavens followed by severe quaking._

" _Sounds like my heaven's at the end of its rope." Haniel rose, "We need to find a new home, Camael. Whether or not I did this, every angel here needs to leave before we're consumed. I assume that Michael has been making trips to our Father's pet house?"_

_Camael wanted to fight over this, he wanted to slam Haniel so hard, but there was no point in it. Not now. "He has been, along with Raphael and several others. We'll be gathering in what's left of the first heaven at the gates, everyone will be going together." He loosened his grip on his staff and spread his great wings, Haniel noted they were marred in several ways, apparently Camael was on clean-up duty, gathering and giving the news to try and stall the chaos._

_A strange job for him, Haniel admitted quietly to himself. He went to where his Powers had gathered, the ranks of them lined up without fear, waiting for his orders. A smile hardly ever left his lips though this time it did, his sharp gaze dragging along each of their faces, "We will be escaping to earth," he announced, "And when we get there I have a feeling it won't go the way our superiors have planned it." All eyes were on him and his smile slowly returned, a sort of charming thing, ridiculous in the carnage around them. "In the face of whatever happens to us all, as I suspect we will not be capable of forming ranks like this again, let us never forget what we are. Never forget who you owe a debt to, and once it's over we'll follow the right people."_

" _We will follow you, Haniel." One of the angels shouted, bringing with it a strong cheer from the others. The Power angels were like a family, they fought the hardest battles heaven had to offer, they were brothers, best friends, and they all listened to Haniel. When no other superior angel would look out for them, Haniel always did. They were his angels, his Powers, his army. If all of heaven fell into disarray they at least knew whose footsteps they would follow._

_Haniel's gaze softened and he bowed his head, "My friends, we shall always reunite. I'm glad to hear you won't falter."_

_As they cheered and moved out, he went to the holding chambers, the space they kept their criminals, their fallen angels, the demons and other monsters of the world. He opened one door and stepped inside, feeling his grace seal into itself as he entered. This was a space of mortality, a wonderful thing created for punishment of all powerful beings. Haniel looked up at the chained creature, head hung low and long blond hair fallen over his shoulders._

" _Zeruch," Haniel's tone was serious as he approached, the smile gone from his lips again, "We're disembarking, all angels are headed to earth."_

_An angry look seared the other angel's face and he snapped his head away._

" _I understand earth is a sore spot for you but you don't have a choice." Haniel removed the shackles and started hauling Zeruch's limp body along. "I trust you, as once you were my best Power, Zeruch. We'll fly into this together."_

_Zeruch looked up at a being who he once revered, still did in fact. It was amazing the kind of forgiveness this angel held, or the devious way he didn't care. It didn't matter what Haniel was like normally, their world was crumbling around them and he had to escape. Haniel could have just as well left him there to be consumed like the heavens, like all the other prisoners left inside, but he didn't. That much Zeruch knew he'd owe the seraph for._

_Standing in the many ranks of angels as they readied themselves to descend the Powers were next to those of the garrison, Zeruch brushed shoulders with a shorter, dark haired angel, blue eyes glancing up in apology. "Hello, Castiel." He offered softly._

" _I'm surprised to see you free," Castiel offered an apologetic smile, "Though I'm glad."_

_They both stared forward in silence then, hearts racing, pounding, minds praying as hard as they could. The ground beneath their feet started to crumble as they were finally given the signal, all angels took flight._


	8. Chapter 8

_Sam swallowed nervously as he watched the doors, waiting for them to open and see the white suit, his hand nervously twitching at his side. This was the right choice, he knew it was but he was still nervous watching those doors as he waited for the music to cue them. Part of him thought they'd never open, that they'd get news Gabriel had gone off somewhere._

_But his fears were misplaced, the doors didn't wait for the music to play, swinging open dramatically as Gabriel lowered a hand, clearly he'd blasted them first. A bright smile on that playful face of his, he walked himself in with a quick wave to the guests, his eyes then shifting up to see Sam's relieved expression. "Didn't think I'd show, did you?" He asked as he stepped up next to his man, a hand sliding down Sam's back._

" _I was nervous." Sam replied softly, glancing over his partner carefully, "You look great."_

" _You still look huge." Gabriel chuckled and looked forward, "Ready when you are big guy."_

_The wedding went off without a hitch; Sam carried Gabriel away from the reception easily, his partner being very light despite the amount of sugar he ate. Dean smiled widely at the couple as Gabriel suddenly took charge and flew them away, possibly for a little fun before the actual party started that evening. It was pretty cute; he had to admit, wondering if he and Castiel had been like that at their wedding._

_A gentle hand touched his, clasping around it like it was the only thing holding either of them down. "I'm so happy for them." Castiel whispered, leaning his head on Dean's shoulder._

" _Me too." Dean replied softly, turning his head down to look at the beauty hanging off of him. He knew they were that giddy at their wedding, he knew he'd picked Castiel up just like Sam carried Gabriel, there were undeniable parallels. Everything worked out for both couples, it took Gabriel time to muster the courage to ask, it took Sam ages to get ready and plan when the wedding would be, but it all ended up just fine._

* * *

"Dean and Castiel Winchester have been tasked with getting to the bottom of this 'Haniel' individual, or so they've been calling him. It is still unknown how many followers Haniel has, whether it's only a small group of angels or all angels. Mankind is growing more and more nervous as time passes, Haniel has not made a move in a week or so and it is speculated he's building up for something. So far it seems that our symbols of peace are going the way of the pacifists, as this would be expected due to their title, we can't help but wonder if it'd be more effective for a team like them to step forward and just fight. Many people are wondering if it would be over faster if they took Haniel down physically-"

Dean shut the TV off and dropped back onto the couch with a long and exhausted sigh. They'd been going after this for a week, they had three left. Haniel wasn't answering any of their media messages, no angel would give a hint as to whose side they were on, it was ridiculous and he was starting to think it might be impossible. But that didn't mean he'd give up on it. He'd promised Castiel, he'd promised himself and he'd promised the world that he'd figure this out, solve it. He wished he could have spoken to Haniel instead of Sam, not that Sam hadn't done a great job but he would have asked questions first, gotten answers.

"What's the news saying?" Castiel asked as he strolled into the room, his face as tired as Dean's, eyes looking down at his husband in a way that made him seem ancient, holding back a wisdom he'd never shown before.

"It says that they think we're doing it wrong. They want us to fight." Dean rubbed his eyes and looked up at his angel again, not missing the way Castiel's forehead creased and his mouth subtly turned down. "I know, before you say it, we can't fight because it'll cause an uproar and-"

"That's not the only thing..." Castiel sighed softly, opening a few buttons on his dress-shirt, he'd taken to dressing up a lot more in the last few years Dean had noticed. The angel slipped onto the couch next to Dean and curled up against him, "I can't fight."

"What?" Dean turned and looked down, "Can't? Cas, we're the strongest fighters in the world, we took on the strongest archangels and won."

"We  _were_  the strongest. That's before I lost my ability to fly, do you know how much of a disadvantage that is?" Castiel's tone was solid though quiet, his hand reaching up and resting on Dean's knee, finding comfort in the small touch. "I don't know if it's because I'm scared and uncertain, or because I swore that after the tournaments I would never fight another angel, but I never want to fight again."

"Cas, sometimes it's not possible to avoid a fight, even if you don't ever want to be part of it." Dean whispered, his hand stroking through the dark hair pressed against him, his words sinking in and leaving their mark, Castiel's eyes fluttering closed as he listened to his lover's heartbeat. Steady, strong, solid, Dean was everything he needed, everything he ever wanted and this... This mess might take that all away if it got bad enough, if he had to fight then he would fight but not until then.

"What do you say we-" Dean's voice was suddenly gone, like it had been consumed entirely in a screaming explosion. The side of their house blew open then, a hand on Dean's neck as the only human in the vicinity passed out.

A strong blast wave sent the intruders sliding backward though it wasn't nearly as effective, Castiel's eyes glowed white briefly as Dean's consciousness faded into darkness, their bond disconnected. "You..." Castiel snarled, "What are you doing here?" He had reclaimed his lover in that first move, standing between his brothers and Dean.

"We're taking out the world's symbols; we don't need people thinking angels want to live with humans anymore." One answered first, he stepped forward with his wings spreading wide, a dominating stance.

Castiel chose to ignore it though he knew he'd never be able to match it. "Why? Why would you do this? Everything was going so well for us, we're free, we're safe and we're equal."

"We were never equal, Castiel. Our father made them for us to serve, you know what we see? We see snivelling, weak little creatures. We are the better species.  _We_  are superior."

"Is that what Haniel has been saying?" Castiel felt his power level, low, considerably low in comparison to what he was at with Dean conscious. He also hadn't fought in a long time, though that kind of thing was fairly innate he would still be very rusty.

"He doesn't need to for us to know it." The talkative angel sneered, "Haniel says that after everything they've done, they don't deserve how forgiving we've been. We agree."

"Who is 'we'?" Castiel swallowed thickly and slowly let his one wing free, concentrating to keep the other locked down. It arched and took a defensive position, it was always better to have it loose just in case. "Haniel's little gathering of angels?"

"Not a gathering, Castiel." The angel raised his arms, "An army. Heaven's army stands behind him, as it always has."

' _The power angels...'_  He shifted backward, eyes fixed on what he counted were ten offenders, ten of his brothers and sisters standing before him, against him.  _'Not again... Please, not again.'_  He thought miserably; ready to stand for himself, to protect Dean, but never wanting to.

"Cas?" Dean murmured, his voice sounding pained but not crucially. "What hit me?" He looked up and flinched when he saw the group, all of their eyes sharply glaring in his direction. "Shit..." he stood up and grabbed Castiel's arm to stable himself. "What does Haniel want?"

"Destruction, genocide, a good laugh." Another angel offered, judging by the uniformed look of their clothing and the symbol on his sleeve, he was a Power. "Haniel hasn't been specific. Right now, he just wants the world to know that their symbols of peace don't mean anything anymore. A safety net against a higher strength doesn't exist, the angels will dominate and this will be our home."

Dean shook his head, "There has to be something we can do to convince him that-"

"There isn't."

With that the troop of angels took flight, they were given specific orders to not fight Castiel when Dean was awake, hence knocking him out first. Clearly the human was more resilient than they first thought. Dean clenched his fist and punched the plush of the couch repeated, "DAMN IT!" He shouted and kicked the furniture over, "How are we supposed to convince  _that_  that we shouldn't fight?"

Castiel could hear his heart pounding and the muffled sounds that Dean was making, all drowned out by a rush of thoughts and fears and a slew of other things. They entered and could have killed Dean, but instead they knocked him out. Why? They could have just as easily taken him out that way, taken him down and Castiel would never have gotten back up. So why didn't they? And even though these thoughts flurried through his mind the ones that scared him most were the 'they could have killed him' thoughts. Just like that, he wouldn't have been able to do a single thing about it. He would have lost Dean forever in that split second.

In the midst of his ranting and raving Dean found himself wrapped in the arms of his husband, a strong and desperate grip that firmly held him in place. "Cas?"

"I can't." Castiel sobbed, lifting tortured blue eyes to see Dean's face, "I can't do it."

"You don't have to fight them, Cas." Dean tried to reassure him but Castiel shook his head.

"I can't let them kill you." Castiel's gaze hardened, his voice still shaking but much more serious, "I have to fight. I have to."

"You said it yourself, if we start fighting now we'll only cause a war." Dean said softly, "You know that, right?" Castiel shook his head, his mind a storm of emotions and delirium as he slowly lowered himself onto the floor, Dean following him gently. "Right now it's just beginning; at this point we don't know which way the angels are swaying, if they're all with Haniel or if there are others with you. We can't make the assumption they're all against us, it could hurt more than just the people we know." Dean watched the way his angel hesitated, jaw firmly set and clenched, ready to fight and defend his life's partner at any moment. It was a comforting thing to see, especially since he'd been brutally attacked just then. Dean was scared, he knew it, Castiel undoubtedly knew it, but he didn't want to say it. He trusted his angel, his partner in everything, he knew with Castiel at his side he'd be safe.

"We need to play this slowly; Haniel wanted you to get violent, Cas. He sent those creeps to knock me out to scare you, to get us to retaliate and start his war for him. I'm not going to fall into that trap, and neither are you." Dean whispered with a smile and cupped Castiel's cheek, lifting his head and stroking his skin with a slow, soothing motion of his thumb. It was a gentle, simple touch but it seemed to relax his angel's features, his words making sense and settling the raging storm in Castiel's head. "We know they'll be after us now, we'll be ready."

Castiel nodded. "Right." He threw himself on Dean and held their bodies together closely; eyes squeezed shut as if he'd never get that moment again. "I swear I'll keep you safe." He whispered.

"I know you will."

* * *

_Bright, shining eyes gazed down below and smile crossed the lips that rarely allowed anything of the sort. "Can you believe that other angels hate humans, Zeruch?"_

" _I could see that," Zeruch approached his partner, watching the subtle way his features changed as he stared at the earth from his perch. They were in a place they were never meant to be, Zeruch knew that. A Power angel had no place gazing down at the earth and most of the time never really wanted to. Cherubim, one of the higher ranked angels, higher than Powers, anyway, was definitely out of place in the lower heavens._

" _How so?" That voice could only belong to an angel, Zeruch decided. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard. Though it was weird, like he hadn't heard it in a long time and just the simple words coming out of his lover's mouth were enough to bring tears to his eyes. That's not how he remembered this situation going..._

" _Humans are overrated, Rochel." Zeruch stated matter-of-factly, "They're supposed to be these children of God that we're supposed to watch out for, serve and protect and all that. We're supposed to kneel for them but why should we? I can see a lot of angels hating that."_

" _I think they're beautiful." Rochel snapped at him and looked back down with admiration, "They aren't strong, they aren't given anything but a breath at birth and yet look at what they're capable of. We're given everything and what have we done with it? There's nothing remarkable about us... We're tools for creation and maintaining_ them _. I... I wish I could have been human."_

_The tone in his voice was distant and something sounded wrong. Zeruch snapped his head over to look and stared at an empty space where Rochel was meant to be. "Rochel?" He called nervously, walking over to the space where his lover had just been standing. He gazed down and saw the same horrendous thing he saw every night; Rochel falling. Falling down from heaven, his screams piercing the peaceful music like knives in the ears._

"ROCHEL!" Zeruch shouted, finding himself immediately standing, his body soaked in sweat and panting heavily. "Rochel..." He put a hand to his forehead, trying to calm himself, trying to remind himself that it was just another nightmare, a different version of what had really happened. But it was always the same ending.

"Scare me like that again and I swear I'll cut your hair off." Haniel warned sleepily, his eyes slightly wide from the shock. "Every night, Zeruch. Sam story, same screaming, same everything. Get over it, he's gone."

"Shut up." Zeruch stalked out of the room and outside, he needed air and Haniel's 'I think I'm funny' talk wasn't going to help. Rochel was dead, he knew that, he was reminded every night he decided to sleep and he didn't need it when he was awake. He wasn't exactly sure why he slept, he didn't really need it. It always caused nightmares, he ended up scared or crying when he woke, never a peaceful sleep. But he figured he knew why, it was something he used to do with Rochel. They never needed it but they slept together, a calm and beautiful thing. His dreams were the places he saw Rochel again, even if they ended the same way, Zeruch couldn't get enough of seeing that smile, hearing that voice just one more time. Just once more.

Haniel had told him that after Rochel fell from heaven he had survived. It was painful but he had lived, or, at least for a little while. His landing had drawn attention; apparently one human had taken him. Haniel said that human still had Rochel's wings, torn off and mounted, much akin to the wings on Haniel's walls except Zeruch knew where those wings came from. The psycho leader had torn out his grace but that wasn't enough to become human, he ripped out the last of his angelic heritage along with his magnificent wings. Seraphim were a superior rank, their wings were bigger, stronger, better and Haniel tore them out himself. Zeruch had watched him do it, or, at least watched him pull the second free.

It was disturbing as all hell, Zeruch would never forget that image and he couldn't help but link it to what he'd heard of his dead lover. Ripped out without any surgical tools, just hands pulling and tearing and destroying until they were out, and then placed like a trophy, like some great game they had just won. It was sickening and he thought for a moment Haniel had done it to screw with him, at least until he learned of the humanizing process. Haniel insisted they bond, then. That Zeruch become his fighter. It was a strange request and the Power never thought it'd work, but it had and he felt unbelievably stronger. Haniel had the patience and mindset of any genius, his concentration was insurmountable and he knew the workings of a human and angel bond better than any other fighter.

Zeruch kept telling himself it wasn't cheating; it wasn't a closer relationship than he'd had with Rochel. Though sometimes he couldn't deny how intimate the bond felt... It burned at him but he knew that if there was anyone he could follow in this world it was Haniel. He could always trust Haniel to be a little insane but usually the angel of joy had a reason, and a good one. Zeruch had never found a reason to hate Haniel, hell; he actually loved the guy as much as any other Power. He was their seraph, the one who looked out for them in heaven and now he was standing up for them again on earth.

Zeruch looked up at the sky and sighed, "Haniel..."

"Yeah?" The seraph smiled and leaned against the doorframe silently, obviously he hadn't let Zeruch go out for air alone.

"Why'd you send the others after Dean and Castiel without orders to kill them indefinitely?"

"Because Castiel is good at talking his way out of things, and he's still a beloved figure head. I don't want to put them in an tight spot where they don't want to kill who I say they should. Granted I could have easily told them to kill Dean but where's the fun in that?" Haniel chuckled and headed back inside, "I'm sure they'll be back in soon with news of 'we let them live' or whatever."

Zeruch glanced back at him, "So it wasn't a plan to set off a war?"

"Maybe, but I wasn't counting on it." Haniel dropped back into his bed and sighed heavily, "I hate being human, by the way. Sleep is the worst." He muttered as he nodded off again.

Zeruch shook his head and looked up again. "I don't agree..."


	9. Chapter 9

What Haniel was looking for, what he wanted, was becoming clearer and clearer by the day. He wanted humans to pay for what they'd done, sure, but mostly he just wanted the humans gone. He wanted genocide but just doing it wasn't enough, as easy as it'd be to just take the space and crush the humans it wasn't entertaining enough. It wasn't going to settle anything more than crushing a pest, nothing satisfying came from that. No angel would feel any better, no, they needed a fight. A battle, a  _war_  to settle this. It all had to start with taking the beautiful symbols and corrupting them, taking the strength that Castiel stood for and breaking it down until no one trusted it anymore, until no one remembered the sacrifice of that one angel.

Haniel wanted a war, his attacks on Dean and Castiel were a way of pushing, of prodding and scaring. Haniel wanted to unnerve the ones watching the peace symbols, to show them that Dean and Castiel were not in control and that their peace could be easily stifled. The attacks had an added bonus of, if the team couldn't hold themselves together, starting the war. If the symbols of harmony were to stop preaching pacifism and pick up the sword once more, a battle would begin and it wouldn't end. But they were difficult to bend, strong minded and powerful.

It didn't matter; Haniel would get his war one way or another. It didn't need to be started by Dean and Castiel to show people that peace was impossible.

The task force had long been made; Sam was leading it as expected, Gabriel firmly at his side. They moved across the countryside to the different areas where violence erupted, angels were starting to act out, causing trouble and even fatalities. They marched to Haniel's drum though not officially part of his army, they were on his side and that was enough. Death to humans. Burn them. Torture them. Treat them as we have been.

Part of Sam wasn't sure what Haniel's outcry really was, each angel seemed to have a new story for him, each angel lunging for his throat and meeting their fate at the hands of an enraged archangel. "What is wrong with all of you? You'll follow some wack-job seraph that comes out of nowhere with an angry rant about stuff that's a decade old? We should be showing him why he's wrong, how we've been given a home when ours fell apart, we should be telling him stories of how one of our own fought for us to be free. You once chanted Castiel's name, stood alongside him as he defied laws, cheered when he won the fights, cried when you thought he'd lose! What the fuck is wrong with you?" Gabriel shouted as he took one angel down after another, knocking them flat easily.

An angel without a human didn't stand a chance against an archangel on a good day, let alone one bonded to the love of his life. Gabriel and Sam might not have had the perfect bond but that didn't change the fact they knew they were meant for each other.

"Sir," one of the men handed Sam a phone, "It's about an incident in Maine."

"Maine?" Sam asked incredulously, lifting the phone to his ear. "Winchester here."

Gabriel looked over as Sam addressed the phone call, nearly laughing at the sight. He was finishing tying up the prisoners, his mind a torrent of thoughts and yet at the same time not. After the incident with Haniel he never wanted to be out here again, doing this, fighting, he was scared. But Sam... Sam had mentioned the obvious, that Dean and Castiel weren't fighting, that they were standing back and doing it their own way. The world needed them, the angels needed them to stand up and fight back, mankind needed it. And if Gabriel didn't want to fight, that was fine, Sam was still going.

' _Stupid...'_  Gabriel thought as he finished connecting the last of the enchanted ropes, enochian written into the material and sealing the angels in place. The police didn't use a lot of the old angel catching equipment but the angel divisions did, it was the only way to hold the beings down without really harming them. Gabriel shook his head and looked down at his brothers sadly, what could make them all want to do this so badly? Everything had been working out but they refused to accept it, and now here they were, tied down and were about to be taken off for questioning then imprisonment. He just didn't get it. He remembered Haniel from way, way back. The guy was admirable, sure, always looking out for his own, but he tended to separate things, compartmentalizing different angels in his mind. He couldn't give a shit about the little garrison looking out over the earth, even if those angels were considered soldiers, he didn't care about the cherubim that helped keep order, he might have even hated the cupids.

Gabriel remembered that smile and how it always left a small level of uncertainty in its wake. What was that angel thinking? It was always a mystery. He understood how the angels could like Haniel, the two of them had played a series of pranks on their siblings and had a great time, it made sense that he was likeable. Gabriel understood the camaraderie that came with being part of an old group you used to remember, the feelings of home and belonging when with old friends. That made sense too. What he didn't get was why they'd go so far? Was common sense so hard to come by? Were the angels that upset this whole time?

He didn't want it to make sense, that everyone's attempts to make the two races equal were failing,  _had already failed_. He hated to think of it, that they'd been too caught up in themselves to notice that the angels hadn't gotten any compensation, nothing to ease the pain of being tormented and broken down for decades then suddenly freed. It was one thing to make them equal; it was another to heal the wounds that had been made. No apology had been issued by mankind, Haniel had a point, the collar was taken off and they were let go but no one had truly felt free.

"Gabriel," Sam's voice broke his train of thought in an instant, his eyes snapped up to see the frustrated expression on his lover's face. "We gotta head out, there's a mess in Bangor, Maine. Apparently several angel slavery markets have been found and they want us to head over there immediately."

"The things I do for you." Gabriel smirked, rolling his eyes sarcastically.

Sam walked up to him and cupped his cheek, pressing their lips together in a tender kiss, slowly moving through it until lifting his head again. Their noses brushed and Sam smiled sweetly at him, "And I appreciate it, Gabriel. Thank you."

They both knew what they were talking about. Gabriel hadn't wanted anything to do with this whole thing anymore, but he couldn't back away, not now, especially not when Sam refused to step down. He stayed in the game for his husband's sake, for the pretty face he woke up next to each morning, because he loved Sam and he'd do anything for him. Sam was asking a lot of his angel, he knew it, but he couldn't see any other way around their situation. He needed Gabriel fighting with him, that's all there was to it.

"Alright, to Maine we go." Gabriel glanced at the rest of the task force, "And them?"

"They'll be continuing their patrols around here, second in command is in charge while we're gone." Sam smiled, "I know what I'm doing."

"Alright, just making sure." Gabriel smirked and took off, Sam tucked in close to his chest.

* * *

_July 11, a day known to Americans as 'Slurpee day' because the convenience store known as 7-11 gave away free slurpees. Every 7-11 participated, it was a nationally celebrated day, and Gabriel had caught wind of it._

" _Do we have to?" Castiel asked miserably, leaned back in the summer weather like an overheated cat, a thin baggy shirt hanging off of him, shorts clinging to his thighs in the humidity. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and peeled his matted hair backward, hating the fact that their air conditioning was broken and he was forced to sit in front of a fan like a slave._

" _Yes! These drinks are amazing! You have no idea. They're fruity or zippy or whatever flavour you pick, sugary and sweet, cold and –"_

" _Wait!" Castiel looked at him seriously, "Cold?"_

" _Yep." Gabriel grinned, "And since Dean and Sam don't want us randomly spending money, and they're on their 'brother day' thing, we can enjoy free drinks."_

_Castiel stood up and nodded, "Let's do it." With that they were off, Gabriel never insisting they fly, such an inconsiderate thought would be blindingly rude of him. They went to the first 7-11 with bright eyes, the summer heat beating down on them as they entered the convenience store without bothering to look at anyone on their way in. People recognized them, of course. Eyes clinging to the two oddly dressed angels as they bee-lined for the slurpee machines._

_There was a line. Always a mass amount of people swarming free stuff, everybody knew that. The two angels looked at one another and suddenly put on their game faces, "Let's do this." Gabriel said seriously, turning his gaze on the obstacle of people in his way._

_Castiel took a step back and readied himself before running at the crowd, hands touching on the broadest shoulders there and hefting himself up above the mass, deftly swinging himself over heads and slipping back to the ground in between a few people that conveniently stepped apart. His face was still tight and serious as he pushed the rest of his way to the slurpees, "Excuse me," He said roughly, his tone catching the ears of most of the customers there, even more eyes shifting to stare at him. He was Castiel. He was_ the _Castiel and he was shoving them aside for a cool refreshment. That made some people's day right there._

_Gabriel fluttered in front of people, a blur of light to most of their eyes, his wings zipping back in as he grabbed one of the cups and filling it with several flavours of delicious slurpee-goodness. "Nice moves, bro." He grinned at Castiel who filled his own cup, not terribly adventurous in mixing flavours._

" _Thanks, you too." He replied with a smile, both trotting out of everyone else's way and enjoying sucking back the frozen drink. After several moments of this they both twitched and pinched their hands against their heads, pain shooting straight to their brains. "AGH!" Castiel swatted at Gabriel angrily, "This is your fault!"_

" _It's just brain freeze!" Gabriel retorted, "You drank it fast, it's your own fault!" Both of their faces were scrunched in pain as the swatted at one another until the tension passed and they ended up laughing, "That was awful!"_

" _Right?" Castiel laughed and went right back to his drink, wanting more to cool him off further._

_It didn't take long, they finished the drinks, both leaning back on a sidewalk bench, twirling empty plastic cups in their hands. "Now what?" The blue-eyed angel muttered as he wiped more sweat from his brow._

_Gabriel glanced at the 7-11, knowing they couldn't get another free slurpee because the owners would recognize them, for sure. "Wait..." he sat up, "We can't get one here."_

" _No, we just got one." Castiel tossed his cup to the nearest garbage can, fist-pumping in silence as it swished in._

" _Right, but if we went to a different store..." Gabriel turned a devious eye toward his brother, watching the way Castiel lit up at the prospect._

" _Ohhh... I see where you're going with this." He grinned and stood up, "Where's the next one?"_

" _Several streets over, let's hit it up." Gabriel turned and started walking briskly, a bright smile on his lips, Castiel swiftly catching up._


	10. Chapter 10

" _Angel slavery markets have been discovered here, here, and here." Sam pointed firmly at the map of the US, on three different borders. "West coast is smaller, they have law enforcement engaged with the offenders but I still want a team out that way, I have a bad feeling about it." He looked up at the team leaders seriously, glancing between them decidedly before pointing to one of the newer officers, "Tertiary team will head that one, head out once everyone's ready."_

" _Yes sir."_

" _I want the secondary team to take an extra squad to the southern outbreak; it looks like it's a big one. My team and I'll be heading to the east coast, it was reported extremely violent and spread throughout a few cities." He looked over all their faces and straightened up, his expression stern and solemn as he addressed them the final time, "Remember to make sure the area is safe before you send any angels in, and keep in mind that what you see might be incredibly disturbing for them and yourselves. Keep your wits about you, don't underestimate these guys, they can be pretty psychotic." He gave the usual salute that dismissed them, his eyes turning toward Gabriel and they both nodded firmly._

_Two years after becoming the head of the law enforcement in the Angel Division, Sam hadn't seen an ugly resurfacing this big before and he was feeling the pressure. People knew him, they knew what he was capable of and what he'd done, and they respected him. Sam Winchester was a leader and that much was clear enough that they followed his orders, he had a plan and he knew what he was doing._

_Sam wasn't always so sure he did, but he never dared tell anyone but Gabriel that._

_The first part of their mission was easy, they cleaned up the surrounding areas and moved on to the biggest problem on the east coast, the largest accumulation of angel slavery supporters Sam had seen yet, aside from the entire world during his younger years. He was a little off balance at that moment, however. They had anticipated more of the surrounding area to be affected and supporting the disturbing cause, however a lot of the places had been hit already. Someone had already gone through and not only caught the men responsible but also did the job of punishing them as well._

_Sam didn't want to count how many missing limbs he found. None of the offenders were dead but none of them were left unscarred. He feared what they'd find in the bigger city but that didn't stop him from marching in._

_Finding the issue wasn't a problem, the entire city seemed to be shaking from the weight of a battle going on within its limits. Sam told the rest to catch up, taking Gabriel and rushing to the scene, just in time to see a man and his angel level the market place. As the ground shifted and the buildings crunched down Sam knew he heard screams cut off all over the block, "HEY!" He shouted, a motion of his hand had Gabriel bolting forward, catching the long and intimidating staff of the angel, their faces ending up and freezing about an inch from the other._

" _Hi." Gabriel grinned first then realized that the expression of the angel before him didn't change in the slightest. "Wait..."_

" _What are you doing? Who are you?" Sam demanded as he stalked forward, watching the other man's back as he slowly turned to face approaching officer. Brown eyes flicked along his form swiftly and a smile spread his lips._

" _You're Sam, right?"_

_Sam didn't falter, his expression as serious and strong as it had been when he arrived. A lot of people knew his name; a lot of people recognized him. It meant less than this guy might have thought. Then again, the way the man chuckled afterward didn't indicate he was a fan of Sam's. He straightened his back as he stopped a few feet away from the stranger, noting mentally that this guy was about the same size as himself. "I am, and I asked you some questions."_

" _Yeah I heard 'em." The guy shrugged and ran a hand through shaggy brown hair; a look Sam noticed was not unlike his own though it was quite a bit shorter. "Name's Jet, that's Camael." He pointed toward the angel that Gabriel had evidently stepped back from._

" _I can't believe it!" Gabriel laughed and pat his brother's shoulder, "I haven't seen you in forever, how've you been?"_

" _Busy." Camael glanced over at Jet for a moment, nothing in his gaze giving away how he was feeling or what he was thinking. He'd always been good at that. "I can see you've bonded to a human too."_

" _Most of us did," Gabriel shrugged, "And I'm sure you knew about me a long time ago already."_

" _I'd heard, yes. I'm glad you get along with yours."_

_Sam furrowed his brow and glanced between Jet and Camael, "Are you being held against your will? That's against the-"_

" _Law, we know." Jet interjected, "And he's not. He actually happens to be quite pleased with our arrangement so you can back off on that front. Also," he looked at the market behind him, "We did your job for you so your team can skedaddle."_

_It took a moment for Sam to make sure he didn't blow a gasket, "You... You can't just take these kinds of things into your own hands, this isn't a comic book and you aren't a vigilante hero. We have ways of dealing with this efficiently and with the least amount of casualties."_

" _That's the part that pisses me off," Jet crossed his arms defiantly over his broad chest, his eyebrow raised slightly as he stared Sam down. "You guys let them all live. What's the point in that? These people aren't going to change how they think; they aren't going to stop putting collars and leashes on the angels they see because they believe they're better than everyone else. And don't try and cut me off with your bullshit, Sam, life is precious and all that crap. You know what's more precious than a scumbag's life? An innocent's life, someone who hasn't done anything wrong and then gets sudden kidnapped by these assholes and tortured! And you know what else? They'd do it again if you let them live."_

" _We punish them accordingly-"_

" _There's no kind of punishment that can fix this," Jet shook his head, "Death is the only solution that guarantees it'll never happen again. People need to know we aren't going to take their shit."_

_Part of Sam agreed, the angry part that boiled every time he heard about the enslavement, the part that wanted to punch someone in the face whenever he remembered the tormented faces he saw nearly every day those years ago. He couldn't argue Jet's points, he knew he couldn't but that didn't make it okay. "It doesn't give you the right to kill them. How many of these people do you think were part of it? How many were innocent people?"_

" _None were innocent, I made sure of it." Jet dropped his arms and started walking toward the renowned officer, "I'm not retarded, I know how to research." He offered a smile as he stopped beside the other man, his hand patting Sam's shoulder before he continued on, "Let's go Camael."_

" _Jet, you can't just do this kind of thing." Sam turned around and watched his newest acquaintance wander off, "You destroyed government property and-"_

" _Hey, I just took out the bad guys for you, gimme a break." Jet winked at him, "I'll see you around, Sammy."_

" _You can't call me that!" Sam stared in disbelief as Jet and Camael took off, somehow feeling like he'd just gotten the 'little brother' treatment. "You son of a..." He muttered, ignoring Gabriel as the archangel laughed at him._

* * *

Sam and Gabriel approached the east coast with wary minds, both knowing full well what Haniel was capable of doing to them and if the psycho-angel was in the area, well, they would have one hell of a fight on their hands. The angel slavery markets were a natural target for Haniel's team, the last one they had gone to alone hadn't ended so well. Sam swallowed nervously as they flew overhead and lowered to the ground. The moment his feet touching Bangor soil he felt it shake and his eyes snapped to meet Gabriel's, the familiar quake meaning a hell of a lot of uncertainty for the both of them.

It meant Jet. They both knew this, and they were both aware that the vigilante duo had caused a lot of messes in the past, had also cleaned up more than Sam could keep track of. It was a mixed emotional reaction, Jet had a strong opinion on just about everything, his mind worked in a different way than most people's, or maybe it was the same and he actually had the balls to act on it. Either way, they butted heads more often than Sam wanted to admit. And at the same time they got along fairly well on other cases. Whenever Sam went to the east coast he met the man, nearly every single time.

Over the last few years since he'd met the man, Jet had cropped up several times; they worked so well together though they were both leader-types. This meant one gave the other an order and he would not follow it. More often than not though Jet ended up listening to what Sam demanded, if it was a good idea then following it made sense. Jet, as obnoxious as he could be, as hard-headed and stubborn, he was still capable of recognizing when it was better to work together than separately. He had never once showed any disdain for Sam's presence, even seemed to appreciate the help at times. It was always the same story though, Jet didn't follow the law because it didn't take things seriously enough, it was too soft and was too slow. Sam believed the more peaceful route was better, as was expected from a brother to the glorified Dean Winchester. And Jet often pointed that out, said Sam was too much like his brother, tried too hard to do things in a similar way to Dean. Sam wasn't sure if he appreciated Jet saying so or if he hated that he wasn't seen as an individual. Regardless, none of that mattered right then.

"Come on," Sam said finally, running around the corner to where he knew he'd see the short haired individual cracking skulls. In all the chaos of his life recently, seeing someone as grounded as Jet was a relief and Sam found himself running over, Gabriel right on his tail. "Jet!"

"Hey!" Jet waved with a smile, "Long time no see, big guy!"

"It has been a while," Sam returned the smile just as Camael stepped out of a building, his staff raised suddenly and the end of it jutting into the ground, causing another quake. Men tried to bolt out of the building toward him but a raised hand and a blast of energy sent them back into the crumbling formation. Sam winced when he saw it but didn't say anything, "You've heard about Haniel, I assume?"

"Yeah," Jet's face darkened and he looked over at Camael who, in all his usual neutrality, seemed to erupt into a fit of anger.

"That arrogant, crazy little-!"

"Cool it, Camael." Jet waved a hand in his direction and turned back to Sam, "Camael used to look after the sixth heaven way back when, he'd seen Haniel a lot, they were sort of like friends, right?" He glanced back at the slowly calming angel of judgement, watching the taller being take a slow breath, exhaling lightly until his muscles un-tensed.

"Something like that." He answered after a moment. Sam couldn't get over how elegant angels were, every time he saw them it was a new work of art and beauty. Then again, he never got tired of seeing Gabriel so he shouldn't be so surprised with their natural beauty. "Haniel has an interesting relationship with anyone who knows him, let's just put it that way."

"I believe you." Sam nodded and smiled over at Jet, "I have to say, it's nice to see you."

"Well that's nice, at least seeing me doesn't have a stigma attached with angel slavery or anything." The other man grinned and waved toward the wreckage, "We took care of it over here, want to catch up?"

"We don't really have time for that." Sam shook his head, "First off I have to organize a cleanup of your mess, and second my priority is actually Haniel. He roams these kinds of places; I'm kind of expecting him."

"Well he ain't here; I think Camael would have noticed."

"Jet, I get your vigilante title and all that but we could really use all hands on deck here." Sam dropped his arms and with them his tough guy persona, green eyes shifting up.

"Puppy-dog look aside, Sam," Jet crossed his arms and walked to the other man's side, his gaze softening as his fingers scratched at the leather of his jacket. "I will join your cause but never the police force. Cops and I don't have a good history."

It was true, Sam had seen Jet's record and it wasn't pretty. He'd gotten into fights with cops as often as he did with thugs. Apparently his personal code of how to be a man didn't coincide with anyone else's. It was admirable though he enforced it in a violent way, not quite as admirable. "Haniel's trying to kill all of us; we can't be picky about this right now."

"Then quit the force." Jet said firmly, his arms slipping back down to his sides, one propped up on his hip while the other poked Sam in the chest, " _You_  are the big player here, Sam. You are a known leader; you have your own army that will follow you if you called them to fight. Why haven't you?"

Sam stared at the sincerity in his unlikely friend's eyes, finding he had no answer for it. He'd been doing things by the book; he'd been doing it because the world would sooner listen to a commanding officer than a rebel. He had more integrity where he was standing now, but did that matter? Right then when they needed someone to take action, when he needed to put his foot down but he hadn't been given permission to do so, did it matter? The world wasn't going to listen, Sam already knew it. They were going to react in fear to the violence portrayed, the threat that this one angel uttered; he would kill all mankind. People would take that, twist it and assume the same of every angel, no one would listen to someone who told them it would be okay even though it clearly wasn't. No one was going to listen to a member of a task force that promised to keep them safe when clearly he had no power to do so.

Jet was right, part of Sam knew it, part of him denied it. He had a group of people who would see it the way he saw it, who would follow his judgement like it was the law, but he didn't want to go there yet. Not yet. It seemed too drastic, as much as he had his doubts he knew that another rebel would only scare people more. Just like Dean and Castiel were patient, he would be patient.

"Alright," Jet shook his head and rummaged in his pocket for a moment, placing a small piece of paper in Sam's hand, firmly shaking it as he did so. "When the Freedom Fighters stand up again, give me a call." He smiled and walked away, motioning for Camael to follow.

Sam turned and watched them fly off as his men ran up the street, his eyes narrowing as his mind ticked away. "Sam?" Gabriel snapped his mind back, gaze shifting over to his life's partner and the concern written in those big eyes.

"I... I don't know what..." Sam muttered and looked down at the phone number scrawled paper in his hand, "What if he's right?"

"What does your gut say?" Gabriel approached and closed Sam's hand around the piece, his presence seeping through their bond and slowly calming Sam's raging thoughts. "Sam, you already know what you need to do, and when that changes, you'll figure it out."

Sam closed his eyes and nodded, "Right, you're right." He leaned over and kissed Gabriel's cheek, "Thanks."

"No problem, gorgeous." The archangel grinned and gently touched Sam's face, "I think he has a point but he's wrong about when it needs to happen. We don't know if it'll get that bad, but you and are both thinking it will. When it does, we'll have made a plan. Contact the freedom fighters to see where they stand but don't mobilize anybody."

It was a good plan, be ready for anything, just in case. Though Gabriel was right on one point, things were definitely going to get that bad, it was just a matter of time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to apologize to the people who are tired of the Sam stuff and are looking for more Dean and Castiel based story. There are things that need to be introduced and it makes more sense to do it through Sam's interactions. Hope you all don't mind :)


	11. Chapter 11

A long and ragged breath escaped him as he fell against the wall, his limbs shaking and his heart racing as he struggled. Castiel heaved himself onto his feet again, refusing to give up and refusing to just lie down for Haniel and his group. It'd been over a month since the first attacks and they weren't getting anywhere with diplomatic approaches, it was starting to drive him up the wall. He would push, just a little, for a forceful reaction and the repercussions had already landed him in hot water. The government was looking at him warily these days, to the point he couldn't even stay in the same room half the time. Dean fought for him, evidently, told them that Castiel was no threat but that didn't matter. It didn't make a difference one way or another because it boiled down to one thing; angels were no longer trusted. Not even the innocent ones.

It was infuriating and started to make him feel like cracking a few skulls himself. Castiel hadn't wanted to fight, not ever again, but he couldn't help the boiling rage inside him. He'd never been the angel to roll over and give in, he'd always been defiant, it was clear in the old footage of him back during his first tournament. He knew what it was time to put down the shield and pick up the sword. They'd been cautious for the first week or so, they'd taken it easy and tried the peaceful solution. It wasn't working. Haniel wasn't listening and the situation was deteriorating swiftly. No angel could go out in public anymore without the savage retaliation or violent fear rising up from every human on the block. In fact, several angels had to run and Castiel wished he could figure out where they'd gone.

Sam had stopped coming by, figuring he knew their answer before he asked or possibly Sam had realized that if Dean and Castiel did do anything violent they'd inevitably trigger the oncoming war. Part of Castiel wondered if he should just outright attack, the war was coming regardless and the waiting was killing him. But Dean refused to be the trigger, he didn't want anything to do with the fighting, he was scared. Castiel knew his husband was scared of losing him, afraid of dying, in general losing his humanity, but to Castiel it was foolish. Hiding from the war didn't make them safe, didn't make them anything but cowards. They'd be hunted, like every other angel-human team out there, and they'd be slaughtered. For them especially, it was necessary to stay on their toes.

But somehow Dean didn't think so. He didn't want to push his angel, didn't want to frighten him or stress him out.

It was far too late for that, Castiel was stressed out, was at his wit's end and the longer he did nothing the harder it was to sit still. Castiel had taken to hiding from Dean, finding a remote location for himself. He'd spread his wing, stretched it out and massaged it gently. He knew he needed to learn to use the one wing, to learn to fight again. It'd been ten years since his last battle, since he'd dared even try.

He was on his second day of training on his own, trying to re-learn to fight with just one wing. It'd be hard, he was already well aware of this. His body rejected half the movements while his muscle memory picked up the others. After the first day he'd gotten to the point that his muscle memory had taken over, that he could close his eyes and nearly move the way he used to. Angels didn't get tired as quickly as humans and yet Castiel felt the strain more than he ever had.  _'I'm getting lazy.'_  He thought as he pulled himself up along the wall, he'd waited too long to start. Castiel looked at the wall dismally, angry with the outcome of his last attempted manoeuvring, through closed eyes it felt right, everything moved the way it should, his body had long become accustomed to the new balance of his weight distribution, his limbs were as swift as they had been back then. Everything was going well, at least until he'd gotten caught up in the repetition of the movements. He'd tried flying.

It ended with him plastered against a wall; his eyes squeezed shut in frustration and reminders of what he couldn't do anymore. No wonder Dean was worried for his safety, if this was all he was capable of. "Damn it!" He cried out and slammed a fist into the already weakened plaster, cracking it and sending his arm through without much resistance. He gasped as tears fought their way past his defences and pressed his forehead against the wall.

"Not getting too far alone, huh?" Dean's voice rolled into the room, the angel's gaze snapping back to see arms crossed over a t-shirt clad chest, scrutinizing gaze clinging to him.

"Back off, Dean. I know what you're going to say." Castiel looked down at the floor, ignoring the annoying tickle of the wet streams on his cheeks.

"I doubt that." Dean walked over and put a hand firmly on Castiel's shoulder, "You shouldn't be doing this-"

"I have to!" The angel swung around though Dean held him close, refusing to let go despite Castiel's struggling. "We're going to be in the fight, Dean. We're going to be targets of it! I can't keep you safe if I can't fight. And I can't..." He dropped his head again and tried to pull away though his husband still refused to let go.

"I wasn't done," Dean ignored Castiel's outburst though that didn't mean he didn't hear it. "You shouldn't be doing this alone; we're a team you know." He risked letting go with one hand, touching Castiel's chin gently and lifting his head again. "I'm your partner in life, in everything, we were meant to be together in everything we do. So when you come down here to try and practice so you're ready, how do you think that makes me feel?"

Castiel blinked the tears away though they didn't seem to be listening, "I'm sorry... I thought you'd tell me not to..."

"And then you say 'well I'm doing it anyway, Dean' and I'd follow you into it." Dean laughed softly and kissed his beloved's lips, a slow and passionate thing. It felt like forever since they'd last shared one and that brought all the hunger back to hold onto it. They stayed that way for a few seconds, just sharing in one another's presence, their touch, until they knew they had to move again. "I'll help you get used to fighting without it, I promise."

Castiel nodded, resting his forehead against Dean's shoulder and closing his eyes. "We're in trouble, Dean."

Dean wrapped his arms around Castiel's torso and held him close, his head pressed against Castiel's as he nodded slowly. He didn't want to think about it but he didn't have a choice anymore. It was happening all over again, the large gap between humans and angels, cracking and breaking apart, only growing wider as the seconds passed. The government meetings they'd been called to nearly three times a week were getting more and more tense as the time went on, Castiel was no longer allowed in during the more important meetings, the assumption was that even if he didn't intend to betray them at that moment, he would eventually. Dean hated it but there was nothing he could do. He was virtually being kicked out, himself. They no longer needed peaceful human-angel relations representatives to speak for them, things were getting violent. The body count was too high and Dean had failed in the one thing he'd promised the President. They couldn't stop Haniel by speaking to him; he was insane and bent on genocide.

"Should we talk to Sam?" Castiel lifted his head again and looked into Dean's eyes.

"Soon, I think."

* * *

"WHAT?" Sam slammed his hands down on the desk of his superior, the chief of police. "You can't do that! We worked for ten years to get those outlawed-"

"It's gotten to the point that that no longer matters, Mr. Winchester." The man crossed his fingers agitatedly and matched the glaring stare of the enraged officer across from him. "We need to use those weapons; they're the only defence we've ever had against the angels. They worked once, they'll work again."

"No. I can't let you do that." Sam glowered, his shoulders tensing. "Everything I've ever stood for goes against exactly that. The angels cannot be treated that way."

"We're done here, Winchester."

"NO!" Sam pulled back when he felt the hands of other officers on his arms, "I refuse to use them! And if you start this, I swear, I'm leaving the force. You can kiss Gabriel and I goodbye!"

Sam's frantic and angry words had the chief lifting his hands to stop the men from hauling him out. He paused and considered the usefulness of Sam and Gabriel, their teamwork and what they brought to the force, and how influential Sam's presence was. He bit his lip but waved the men off, "Alright, Mr. Winchester. But if people die, it's on your hands."

"Thank you, sir." Sam said roughly before walking out on his own, meeting up with Gabriel who was all but hissing at the guards around him. No angel was trusted and quite frankly Sam was about ready to start cracking skulls, in a very similar manner that Castiel had been prepared to do, not that Sam was aware of it though. He looked up at the smouldering gaze of his archangel and motioned for him to follow. Gabriel pushed through the guards and followed suit, his steps lining up with Sam's easily.

"This is seriously driving me insane." He growled.

"Likewise." Sam sighed and rubbed his eyes, "They wanted to start using Crystal Wings' old gear and equipment."

"You said no, right?" Gabriel looked up, slight concern in his eyes. "You aren't letting them-"

"I told him we'd walk if he did, they won't, for now. I don't know how long I can hold this off though... We're on the edge."

The archangel ran a hand through his hair, "Wonder what dad's up to... If he knows about this."

"He's as weak as a human, or close anyway." Sam shook his head, "I hope Chuck's been steering clear of Haniel, something tells me that psycho won't go easy on someone like Chuck..."

* * *

_Castiel groaned, struggling slightly before he finally shouted angrily and kicked the tent over. "I give up! How the hell do you do this?"_

_Dean laughed, walking over and starting fresh on the downed shelter. "Let me do it, Cas."_

_Sam grinned and looked down at the one that he and Gabriel had managed to set up, "Looks like I beat you, Dean."_

_"Silence, Cas was doing fine, I wanted to give him a shot." Dean glanced over at his pouting angel, a furious glare on Castiel's face._

_"Let's just sleep without tents." Castiel tried to say in defence of himself, "I don't see why I have to set one of those stupid things up."_

_"It's shelter, Cas. In case it rains or if there's a bear or something." Sam explained though he received a similar pissed off look for his reply._

_"Then I'll just blast the bear... And it doesn't look like it's going to rain."Blue eyes looked up and he furrowed his brow again. The sky was clear, maybe one or two clouds but that was it, it made no sense to him, if they were going to be out in the middle of nowhere they may as well just sleep under the stars._

" _Don't worry about it, Cas." Dean reassured him with a smile._

" _Yeah, try not to think about how much you suck at tents." Gabriel grinned, earning him a slap from his brother._

_Setting up their shelter took less time than expected though they had taken a lot longer to get to the camping area, so all in all it was getting dark. Sam loaded the fire pit while Dean worked on getting the thing started, all the while both angels sat back on top of the car with curious eyes. Castiel nudged Gabriel gently and motioned toward Dean's interesting arm motions, "What's he trying to do?"_

" _Start a fire." Gabriel shrugged with a growing smirk, "I don't think they realize they brought us."_

_Castiel squinted and watched as a light bit of smoke started up, the way he could feel Dean's mind lit up with excitement brought with it an adorable tingle. A smile crossed his lips as the smoke flickered away and Dean's shoulders tensed. "Having trouble, sweetheart?" He called over._

" _Shut up, I've got this." Dean grumbled._

_Sam watched for a few moments then smiled up at Castiel who crossed over to them, "I think you need Cas' help this time, Dean."_

" _Shut up, I've got this." Dean repeated a little more angrily than before. Castiel put his arms around Dean's shoulders from behind and kissed along his neck, just distracting enough that Dean didn't notice that Castiel sparked the fire._

" _Oh! Babe look, you did it!" He exclaimed excitedly, not missing the swell of pride in Dean's chest._

_Sam shook his head and grabbed the cooler, stealing a beer and tossing one to Dean as his brother stood up, "So how's work going?"_

" _Gah, I'd rather not talk about it." Dean shook his head with a smile, "Let's say it's going well. How about you?" He grinned even wider at the way Sam's face scrunched._

" _Ahh... man I can't even..." Sam ran a hand through his hair, "It's a freaking nightmare. We've been getting a lot of calls from the east coast-"_

" _Wait, that Jet guy you mentioned a while back? He's still around?" Dean lit up with a light laugh, "Man, I loved those stories, what'd he do this time?"_

_Sam rolled his eyes and sat back, leaning against a tree with a long sigh, "What didn't he do? He's loud, stubborn, and always in my way. And every time I try to arrest his sorry butt he either flies off with his angel or gets Camael to pull the 'angel of judgement' gig and smacks Gabriel with his staff. It makes him see all the 'sinful' things he's done, which Gabe seems to enjoy, sick little jerk, but it also stuns him for a few seconds which is plenty of time for Jet to escape."_

" _So he either flies off... or he flies off?" Castiel smirked and looked over at Gabriel, "I remember Camael, very strong, very stoic and strict. Over all though he was very understanding and though he was all about the rules and how things are supposed to be, he was good at turning a blind eye when he thought your intentions were noble enough." The dark haired angel grinned wider, "And he hit you on the head?"_

" _Four times already," Gabriel laughed, "I think the last time he smiled first but I'm not sure."_

" _What do you keep seeing that makes it okay to get a concussion repeatedly?" Dean had to ask, glancing up from his beer._

_Gabriel's smile brightened and grew a little more devious as he looked over at Sam then back at the other two, "Every dirty, nasty little thing I do with Sammy. Like the-"_

" _Gabriel!" Sam shouted over him just as Dean and Castiel both leaned back in laughter._


	12. Chapter 12

_Sam walked down the corridor, he could hear his comrades' footsteps behind him, knew he was among friends and knew even better that he was strong enough to handle himself. But knowing wasn't enough, he still felt scared, unsafe, the tension in the air was suffocating and he couldn't stand it any longer. Gabriel was always at his side, Gabriel would always be there with him and that much he believed in whole heartedly. But how long would he be there? Something didn't sit right. Something was wrong. He could hear screaming in the distance, that awful piercing sound of an angel's tortured shrieks, he remembered them all too well. The sky seemed to be a blood red as he walked, part of him wondered how he could see the sky from inside the hallway where no windows allowed him access to the world outside, but it didn't matter. Something else did._

_Opening a door he could see the familiar tables set out, angels strapped to them and writhing painfully against the charmed bindings holding them down. His heart ached when he saw it, he reached forward to set them free but his hand was caught suddenly by the crushing grip of another. He looked up to see a smiling face, Haniel's smiling face as he was lifted up and thrown against a wall, shackles clinging to his wrists when he landed and pulling his body tight on the cold surface. He screamed Gabriel's name but when he looked up he could see the long golden locks of hair draped over Gabriel's still body, Zeruch kneeling next to him, hair acting like a curtain to completely hide both of their faces. A thunderous heart beat consumed the area and Sam struggled on the wall, he felt like he was 14 years old all over again, before the Freedom Fighters, before Gabriel, when he was helpless and nothing he did meant anything._

" _I'm sorry, little leader," Haniel's charmed voice flowed past his ears like honey covered in maggots. "It's time for the new revolution."_

" _We can't live in peace, not together."_

Sam's eyes opened wide, his heart pounding in his chest. He realized in a panic that he was holding his breath and gasped loudly, coughing and struggling to sit up. His hand fumbled on the other side of the bed, finding Gabriel's form and grasping it tightly. The smaller frame shifted, Gabriel could sleep like the dead if he wanted to. "Sam?" He groaned softly and rolled over, looking at the sweaty, shirtless man desperately holding onto him. "What happened?"

A smile tugged at Sam's lips, it was a nightmare, it was all just his mind running away from him. Hearing his angel's voice was a relief. Sam lifted his head to see the bright eyed angel beside him, moonlight shining through their window. He opened his mouth to say something when his eyes focused enough to see the figure of someone behind Gabriel. Sam's hand slid under the pillow and that motion was just fast enough to grasp the hand gun he'd placed there, the man lurching forward in an assault as several others bust in the window. There was a faint glow in the room and Sam realized too little too late that they'd been setting up angel trappings in his room.

These were humans, trained, special ops humans and they'd been sent to take them out. Sam had a hard time wrapping his head around the idea as he wrestled the first assailant off his bed, lifting his gun to shoot at the others. Gabriel skittered back on the mattress as he realized he couldn't access any of his power, his grace locked down. "SAM!" He cried out in a mad panic, ducking his head and hiding as a wave of gunshots rang out over the room.

Why would they attack? They had wanted to keep Sam and Gabriel as a team; they were the best team that the government had. Sam had argued the week before and had won, why would they suddenly do this?

It was a mess of limbs and motion, bodies hitting the walls, floor, even the ceiling once or twice. Sam grabbed Gabriel and pulled him out of the room at one point, he couldn't quite make sense of when, or eve where they were going. His heart was racing and his breathing heavy, they were targets, whatever the reason was, they were targets.  _'The government wants to fight... They think I'll get in the way.'_  His mind clicked into place just as his nose touched the rim of a rifle, eyes snapping up to the guarded face. He stepped back, pushing Gabriel against the wall behind him, feeling the terrified shaking of his lover's limbs as they clung to him, fingers digging into his sides for dear life. "So," He smiled a little, a bitter look to his face as he glanced to his bedroom, noting the numerous men he'd taken down on his own before looking back down the barrel of the gun and up to the face again. "The war's starting, huh?"

* * *

"Chuck!" Anna called as she inched toward the old cave she remembered from years back, the closed in space feeling colder and colder as she walked. She wouldn't ever forget that this was where she and her Father had come before Castiel's wedding, where Chuck had sealed Lucifer away. "Chuck? Father?" She called again, she could feel him in there, and with her luck he was probably sitting right beside the cage.

"Over here, Anna." Chuck called back; his voice a little shaky though it always was it sounded a lot more burdened now.

"What are you doing in here?" She marched over with an angry look on her face, "You shouldn't be sitting around Lucifer's cage like it's a cafe or something."

Chuck just laughed and shrugged, "He seems lonely sometimes."

"He's unconscious."

"Not always." Chuck looked inside at the motionless form sleeping in the corner of the sealed area, curled in on himself and appearing much, much smaller than he ever had. "Sometimes he wakes up and calls out for someone, it can't be easy, after all. I took his grace, he's powerless. And because I took his grace I also took his bond away, that leaves something a lot emptier inside than anything else would. I feel sorry for him."

"Well we have bigger things to feel sorry about. We've been hanging out in places like this for forever! Just because everyone knows who you are doesn't mean we should avoid civilization for the rest of our lives." Anna scolded and ignored the surprised look on Chuck's face.

"My apartment is civilization." He argued.

"Growing your own on the old pizza under the couch doesn't count, dumb ass." She shook her head and looked inside the cage again, "But seriously, what are we going to do? Haniel's acting out and he's doing a more impressive job of it than even Lucifer did."

"That's because Lucifer isn't always as bad as everyone says he is. He's mischievous and can be cruel but he's not insane." Chuck rested his forehead against the seal with a sigh, "I'm still thinking, alright?"

"You have the strength of Lucifer, that's better than anyone else has." She crossed her arms and pursed her lips together in thought, "Can't you-"

"Not better, Anna." Chuck pointed out tiredly and shook his head, "Dean and Castiel are the best anyone has."

"Castiel's missing a wing, he doesn't fight anymore." Anna snapped at him, "We can't keep dumping this on him! Cas isn't a war machine; he can't just keep getting up and taking on our fights like that. We  _need_  to do this ourselves, Chuck! This is  _your_  mess!" She couldn't believe she was shouting at him but it'd been teen years since she found out who he really was, she was mostly past that already.

"I'm not the one who broke heaven!" Chuck shouted angrily, "I'm not the one who found ancient magic and spells and unleashed in places it shouldn't have been. I'm not sure if you're aware of this, Anna, but I'm not the only 'all-powerful' being sitting around in the universe! I'm also not the oldest! By all means I should be dead right now."

Anna stood in shock for a moment before daring to speak up again, this was the first time Chuck, God, had shouted at her. "Do you know what happened?"

"I know what happened, and I think I'm starting to get who did it too." Chuck pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed again, it was starting to sound like a regular noise lately. "The first step was dislodging heaven's pillar, so to speak. The strength of our home, what held it up and held its magic. It was damaged and we were losing... well, everything, really fast. Heaven was the source of what was sustaining all of the angels, without it you'd all die fairly quickly."

"We're not dead now." Anna pointed out softly, not wanting to interrupt but she couldn't help it, it was habit.

"Well yeah, that was step two of the plan. I was the only one who could do anything to save you, and I had two choices, take the time to fix heaven first and make new angels after because you'd all undoubtedly die in the amount of time I'd need. Or make you all self-sustaining. I think the choice I made was obvious."

After that Anna could only piece it together, that was the reason God had vanished when their world was crumbling, when they were all scared to death and having to make their own choices. They hadn't been abandoned, they'd been saved. "So... Thank you." She said finally, "I hadn't really..."

"No one really thinks there's a reason, but there was." Chuck shrugged, "It's fine. And as for who started it all, at this point I'd venture Haniel. The cracks in heaven started in the third but they were fully let go in the seventh. Whoever it was, if not Haniel, knew that most of the angels living near the largest fissures would inevitably be sucked in and obliterated. I can't even imagine how many died..."

"A lot. Not to mention the ones that were mutilated and killed by the humans after..." Anna sighed and sat down beside her partner. "But you have Lucifer's strength, that should be more than enough for Haniel."

"I don't, actually." Chuck laughed, "It's Lucifer's grace that's being used to seal him up in here. And Haniel's torn out his own grace, dirtied himself, removed his wings... He's human now, he's bonded with Zeruch. Even if I could use Lucifer's strength it wouldn't be enough, not nearly."

"Then maybe Sam and Gabriel can handle him."

"If they weren't so sloshed down and distracted with every political thing out there, then maybe. But it'd be close. Very, very close." He stood up then and paced around, fingers touching his chin and running through his hair, "I'd say that if Sam teamed up with Lucifer there'd be no doubt in my mind who would win, but that's not going to happen. Castiel and Dean are going to have to get off their lazy butts and move."

"Well maybe we should go down there and tell them that." Anna pointed out as her phone started to ring.

* * *

Dean put the phone down slowly and braced himself against his desk as he closed his eyes, shoulders shaking in anger. Castiel stood beside him with his head lowered, neither saying anything. They'd just gotten the news that Sam's place had been broken into, blood splattered all over the place and hints that bodies had been dropped and dragged out but no further signs of anyone. There were rumours and speculation, mostly that one of the world's bigger symbols had just been taken out by the angel rebels.

And rebels was no longer an appropriate word. Rebel was a word used to describe a generally smaller group of people against the bigger nation and their beliefs. This was a whole new nation on its own. Haniel's gathering had grown massively since the separation had started again. Humans looked on every angel with fear, and even the innocent ones lost their patience eventually. Haniel had an army at his side at all times and Dean was worried about what that army was capable of, and how many angels were part of it. He wouldn't doubt that majority of the angelic population was following that psychopath. And why shouldn't they? The humans had handled the situation so poorly that even Dean considered joining Haniel's cause at times.

Of course he wouldn't, not really.

"I think that's all the cue we need, Dean." Castiel said softly, "The war is starting, or it will very, very shortly." Neither of them wanted to say that they didn't have time to mourn Sam, but the hope in their minds was still strong. Sam was alright. Sam would call soon and tell them he was fine. He would show up and explain what happened. They were both hoping.

"No, we can't assume just yet." Dean felt stupid for saying, that he was hoping that it really was the angels that had attacked Sam and not what his gut was telling him.

All in all he should have felt stupid; he led Castiel to the newest meeting while ignoring his gut feeling, pretending he was just nervous and it was nothing. The smiles on the faces of the other officials was not in any way welcoming. Castiel stopped in the doorway and started quickly backtracking though his arms were caught and he was hauled inside. A sharp shriek escaped him, one that Dean hadn't heard in a long time. "Cas!" He spun on the men and was caught before he could do anything, "What are you doing? Let him go!" His eyes widened as his gaze connected with the terrified blue, realizing exactly how stupid he had been.

"Calm down, we haven't done anything to him." One of the others stood up and crossed the room, Dean remembered him as the secretary of defence. "This room has been equipped with anti-angel gear, and the new wallpaper locks their grace down."

"You're using that shit again?" Dean shouted angrily, pulling against the armed men holding him back. "You sick bastards! You can't use that, all of the work that we-"

"It's useless now. You failed and they've taken down our symbol of control and law, Sam Winchester is dead."

Dean grit his teeth, his gaze shifting back to Castiel as a collar was clasped around the struggling angel's throat. Castiel cried out again, earning himself a shock from the unwanted accessory. His eyes rolled back immediately as his body convulsed, falling limply against the hold of his captors. "CAS!" His heart pounded ferociously, his mind couldn't keep up with what was going on and so his body moved on its own. He slammed his head into the face of man on his right, knocking him back. The following seconds passed in a blur, he'd thrown the other man over his head and cracking him down on the floor with as much force as he could muster, quickly pulling him back up to take the bullets that rained down on him.

He felt sharp pains flash through him as he ran across the room, knowing he was being hit or skimmed by the gunfire, he tackled Castiel, his arms around his lover's motionless body tightly holding on. He was surprised he'd had enough force to break Castiel free but his mind was too foggy to really think clearly.

It was a mad scramble as he kicked the doors open, hauling Castiel out. At least he was lucky enough that his attackers were just about as stupid as he had been. They'd focused their anti-angel armaments in the one room; no one was waiting outside for them. Dean groaned and threw Castiel onto his back piggy-back style, hefting up his lifeless legs and starting to run. A soft moan vibrated beside his ear and he felt the violent shake and spasm of Castiel's body all over again. What the hell was that collar? It wasn't like the ones they had used back in early days. "I've got you, Cas." Dean wheezed as he ran, his legs feeling like jell-o and burning like bitch. "I've got you, just hang on." Tears stung his eyes as he felt another twitch in his angel's body. "I'll find a safe place and you'll be fine." He wanted to stop and rip the thing off but he couldn't, not if he wanted to live.

Dean dropped Castiel into the Impala and floored it out of there; he could feel the cold sweat all over his body and knew full well that his heart hadn't slowed down for an instant. His chest ached and he could hardly breathe but he had to get them the hell out of there. Castiel slumped limply against him and Dean slammed his fist on the steering wheel. "Why? Why is it always you?" He looked tearfully at the unconscious lump beside him, "Why are you always everyone's goddamn target?"


	13. Chapter 13

" _Zeruch, do you think we could ever go there?" Rochel's voice was quiet, lacking the usual arrogance and it concerned the blonde more than he cared to admit._

" _Where?" he asked dumbly, knowing the question but he wanted to hear it in his lover's voice again, to know if he was right and something was wrong._

" _Earth... where the humans are."_

" _Yeah, why not?" Zeruch answered nonchalantly, shrugging and rolling his head over to see the furrowed brow angled his way._

" _I'm serious, Zeruch." Rochel sat up on the bed and slouched forward, staring out the window with distant eyes, "I really wish we could."_

" _And I wish I could take you there, but we aren't allowed." The blonde sighed and tilted his head back into the pillows, "What we're doing is bad enough. Angels aren't allowed to have relations, you know that." He looked up at the mellowed expression shifting closer to sadness, the look tugging at his heart strings and he sat up beside his lover, "But hey, in for a penny, in for a pound, right?" He kissed Rochel's cheek, "We'll run away to Earth."_

" _You mean it?" Vibrant eyes lit up at the prospect, "Really?"_

" _Really really." Zeruch laughed softly. If they were going to be caught together then they may as well be caught among the humans. They would be killed regardless, what was the harm in taking Rochel to see his favourite place? Other than drawing further attention to themselves... "But we'll need a plan first, something that will get out of here without being noticed."_

" _Obviously." A smile crept onto Rochel's usually neutral or angry face, a smile that Zeruch hadn't known to cherish at that time._

Golden eyes flinched and fluttered open, it'd been a while since he'd dared let himself sleep, he didn't need it, of course, but Haniel did and there was no point in sitting wide awake, bored as hell. It'd been too long since he pictured that face, part of him wondered if he even got it right half the time.

"You're awake." Haniel's voice swept into the room as the man crossed the floor with a slow stretch of his arms. "Good, we need to get moving."

Zeruch sat up and watched his partner's stride, wondering if Haniel ever really slowed down or had to think of something on the spot. He always seemed to have everything planned out ahead of time. It was insane. "More ground to cover, I assume?" he asked as he stood, copying the stretch and cracking a few joints to make them less tense.

"You got it." The cheeriness was impossible for how early it was, Zeruch was sure of it.

The war had started, the human government made it clear they had no more intentions of settling things peacefully, and Haniel would not rather have it any other way. The big players had vanished, Sam and Gabriel first and then Dean and Castiel. It had been months since anyone had seen either, Sam and his archangel were assumed dead but neither Haniel or Zeruch believed that for a second. There were rumours of the Freedom Fighters' re-establishment and no one could keep them as underground and hidden as Sam, no one could mobilize them so efficiently. No, Sam was alive indefinitely, at least he was. There was no kind of proof about Gabriel.

Dean and Castiel on the other hand had been forced to flee after being assaulted by their own government. Haniel smiled to himself as he considered it, a team of a man and an angel found no place among humans where angels were feared. And there was no longer a place for such a team among the angels where men were slaughtered on sight. The world was no longer capable of peace, at least not until one of the two sides won.

The angelic outcry had begun with the United States, where Haniel had situated himself for the most part. However there were countries all over the globe that had already suffered through their internal struggles, many of them long under the angelic rule.

The death toll was horrendous, looming closer to the millionth victim by the day. And things were only escalating. The government's had taken action back, the anti-angel weapons and methods rearing up in full swing. Haniel nearly died laughing at the look on the humans' faces when the collar didn't work on him. He'd walked right into their midst and even allowed them the opening. Apparently it hadn't been clear enough that he was no longer an angel. Of course, he willingly accepted Zeruch's rescue, he wouldn't have fared so well against a lot of guns. Luckily for him the humans hadn't brought very many, they were up against angels so they brought angelic weaponry. Next time he probably wouldn't be so lucky, or reckless but it had been too much fun to stroll into their campsite.

"How long you figure until we finish them off?" Zeruch asked, looking at Haniel's battle strategy splayed out, it was a mess of scribbles and planning but the Power angel could make sense of it. He'd seen his superior's messy ideas scrawled along just about everything in the past and after asking enough questions about what it meant he could see it for what it was. The ideas were scattered and to anyone who hadn't had experience with Haniel's way of thinking would definitely have more than a few issues with it.

"A while, I'm afraid." Haniel stared down seriously, eyes narrowing slightly at different gaps in his plans. "While we're much stronger than they are, and we've managed to successfully diminish the number of human-angel teams to a handful, I don't know where those remaining teams are. And for that matter they still have the angelic weapons. We fell against them once but now that we know the extent of what the humans are wielding, I think we can take 'em to hell no problem. So all in all it's going to be a little touch and go. Once we have our footing and more numbers, we'll start winning a lot faster than we are now. It's a downhill run at this point."

Zeruch nodded, following most of Haniel's logic without too much issue. "Any way we can track the ones with bonds?"

"Nope, would've done it by now if we could." Haniel sighed and headed for the door, grabbing his coat as he went. "Let's go, I want to see how the other Powers are doing."

Zeruch followed without another word, still unable to get that face out of his head. Rochel had loved humans, had wanted to be one... Once upon a time Zeruch would have taken Rochel to live with these people, and now he was killing them... Because they had taken Rochel's life. He trusted and saw the best in humanity and they killed him. The Power angel spread his wings as they stepped outside, his hands balled into fists, jaw set tightly as he followed Haniel's orders.

* * *

" _The war's starting, huh?" Sam eyed the man wielding the weapon he suspected would be the one to end him, what was the harm in a simple question?_

" _You better believe it is." The man grinned and adjusted the rifle._

_Sam closed his eyes and inhaled calmly, there was nothing he could do from his position._

_The shot rang out but Sam felt no impact. His eyes shot open to see the form of his assumed assailant falling to his knees. There were several more shots echoing as more special ops men charged forward, going for the lone man in the entrance. "What's the matter guys? Don't like it when people shoot back?" Jet's voice was one that Sam wouldn't soon forget; even though he hadn't turned to see the other man Sam knew it was him. However he didn't have a moment to gawk, instead Sam started ushering Gabriel to move away from the firing zone. It was hectic and they were nearly hit more than once but both managed to get outside safely, the moment they were Gabriel felt his grace flicker to life. His wings sprouted immediately and shielded Sam as they bolted from the house._

_Jet's shouts from inside were just as intense as the battle cry from the soldiers, Sam sincerely hoped his strange acquaintance would make it out safely. "He'll be fine," Camael assured softly, as if he'd heard the other's thoughts._

" _What the fuck is going on!" Gabriel screamed in a panic, his eyes huge and terrified._

" _They've been planning on ways of disposing of the two of you," Camael answered calmly, as if his brother weren't throwing a fit right in front of him, "I suppose making it more private and claiming it was Haniel would help rally their cause. The war has, as you guessed, begun. I'd suggest staying low for the time being."_

" _If they're going to claim we're dead we have to stand up and let them know we're alive." Sam glowered, his chest heaving as he tried to settle himself, calm his skittering heartbeat._

" _I think you can be more subtle, Sam." Camael looked at him directly, narrow eyes boring into him like a freaking x-ray. "You remember what Jet said last time we spoke?"_

" _Yeah..."_

" _Given it any thought?"_

_Sam nodded and ran his hand through his hair, exhaling harshly and nodding again as if the second head motion would help this all make more sense. "I'll contact them; let them know what's going on..."_

" _Only contact the ones you trust." The angel of judgement warned, "Let them rally the rest in the Freedom Fighters' name, but only the truly loyal will get to know you're alive by joining your cause."_

" _I guess telling Dean is out of the question then." Sam thought about the political position Dean would take, both Dean and Castiel would spoil the rumours of Sam's demise and tell everyone that it hadn't been Haniel and stop the swelling tension in its tracks. But Sam could already tell that wouldn't work, it'd just postpone the inevitable. It was time to act._

" _Fuck, no one wanted to grab a gun and help me out?" Jet ran up to them, a snarky grin on his face. "Come on, let's get the hell out of here while they're still trying to figure out where they went wrong."_

" _You beat them?" Sam gaped._

" _Yeah." Jet raised an eyebrow, "What, didn't think I was any good without Camael?"_

" _Well... Honestly no." Sam shrugged and looked at Gabriel who was slowly calming down and mimicked the motion to show he knew just as little._

" _Ye of little faith." Jet walked over to Camael and gave the motion of his hand that Sam had recognized as 'let's move out' from previous encounters._

_The two teams took flight, quickly increasing the distance between Sam and Gabriel and the men out for their heads. Sam held tightly to his archangel, never being more scared of losing him than had been in the last month._

* * *

Jet walked into Sam's planning room and crossed his arms, watching the news broadcast with vague interest before looking back at the brooding leader. "It's been months since anyone's heard from Dean or Castiel," he broke the tense silence with the news, watching Sam's features scrunch up. Their angels had gathered with the other angels of the Freedom Fighters, all of them decidedly catching up and sharing stories of how they'd been, how things had deteriorated since Haniel's arrival, how they remembered the crazy Seraph to be, just a bunch of things like that. It didn't bother any of the humans on the team, it was looked at as 'family time'.

"Dean..." Sam pinched his nose tiredly and leaned back in his chair, "He should have just friggin' joined me."

"Yeah, his political bullshit got old pretty fast," Jet mused and wandered to Sam's side of the table, "But it was, in a way, necessary. They needed to see how far gone shit was, how far gone shit had always been. People and angels get a long okay but it's never been as perfect as the two of them had imagined."

Sam sighed and looked at the rough-around-the-edges mystery he'd come to know as Jet, "Well I think you can understand why Dean and Cas think it can be perfect. There's just something about loving an angel, they get into your skin."

Jet made a face and shook his head very quickly, "Whoa, dude. I think you've got the wrong impression."

Sam looked surprised, staring up at Jet's disturbed expression in a new light, "Wait, you and Camael aren't lovers?"

"AH!" Jet threw his arms in the air in distaste and shook his head with the thought of it, "You can bond with an angel and  _not_  sleep with them, pervert!"

"So are you against it?"

"No, it's fine, it's just... Camael? Seriously? I can't picture that guy doing anything other than smacking me on the head with his judgement stick and telling me I'm a lost cause." The other man laughed and shook his head again, "Nah, I'm good on the angel-lovin', thanks."

Sam smiled and nodded, "Alright, noted. I'm sorry I even thought it."

"No worries. Anyway I wasn't done." Jet lifted a folder he'd been holding from under his arm and tossed it on the table in front of Sam. "I've got connections all over the east coast, as you already knew. I'd asked a friend of mine to keep an eye out for your bro."

Sam opened the folder as Jet spoke, seeing an image of a paranoid looking man, rundown and looking completely miserable. "That's Dean..."

"Yep, found 'im." Brown eyes skimmed over Sam's expression for a moment before deciding to continue, reaching for the second picture, "And Cas..."

Sam's eyes widened when he saw the pale and limp body, one of those disgusting collars tightly wrapped around his neck. Castiel wasn't conscious, and Sam would have guessed that Dean hadn't resurfaced because of that fact. What could Dean do with a broken partner? Nothing more than hide from the two sides that wanted them both dead. "He can't get the collar off... Can he?"

"Nope," Jet paced a little, "Those are new and improved, they were made to break angels down and were never meant to come off without the master key."

"So we need the master key..." Sam growled and ran his hand through his hair, "Can we get it?"

"Already on it and it's already done." Jet handed over the strangely shaped little trinket hanging from a silver chain, "Stole a few of your troops for that little mission but we got in and out without being noticed. Had it copied so the government doesn't know there are two keys. We can start freeing the angels as we come across them."

"Someone needs to go get Dean, to take Castiel's collar off." Sam grabbed his phone and started dialling immediately, he paused and considered what he was doing as he heard it ring. How ungrateful was he? The younger Winchester rose and squeezed Jet in a hug, "Thank you so much,"

"No problem, tough guy." Jet smiled and pet his back, "Now go and get your damn symbol of peace in here so we can start some real strategizing."

"Right." Sam nodded firmly.


	14. Chapter 14

Dean looked out the window, it'd been far too long, months had passed since Castiel's collar had been put on. And there was nothing he could do about it. Not a damn thing. His angel lay in bed all day, never waking or stirring, there was barely a sound that came from him other than the quiet groaning and squeaking when he was in pain. It was numbing. Dean tried contacting his angel through their bond but even there Castiel's grace had been locked down. Dean had walked into their shared space only to see Castiel laid out there as well.

He wished he could do something,  _anything_  to help. But he found absolutely nothing; he couldn't get the damn thing off. It was a different make than the ones he remembered. And the fact that the government was using them again made him want to kill things. What had they been working so hard for if it was so easy to just continue where they'd left off ten years ago? And not just where they left off but improved the weapons and then some? Dean could drive himself insane with the questions and the hypocrisy, how stupid and useless it had all been, but what good would that do in the end? He'd wind up on a street corner with a comatose angel at his side, or dead. Whichever.

It'd been too long since he'd heard Castiel's voice or had seen those pretty blue eyes opened. It was painful, it really was. He hadn't realized just how big a part of his life was in Castiel, his world revolved around that sassy twerp more than 80% of the time. Of course he already knew this, a long time ago he knew. It didn't change how he felt now, it didn't stop the painful reminder every second he was aware that there was nothing he could do for his angel.

The days were spent listening to the newest details of the war, scavenging his own food, and gently petting the pale face of his husband. It ate him alive, no one could ever understand how he was feeling. His brother was missing and presumed dead, he couldn't go to his parents because they'd only become targets, and his lover was broken down into unconsciousness. Dean was helpless and useless and he couldn't have been any harder on himself for it.

Dean was on his way back into their motel when he noticed something taped to his door; it was one of the most discreet kind of taping he'd ever seen. In fact, if he hadn't been daydreaming in that general direction he never would have seen it. Dean pulled the sheet from its hidden location, part of him thinking it was a waste of time and he'd find himself looking at a Jehovah's Witness's sheet or something like that. But he looked at it anyway; the rest of his mind hoping it'd be some kind of saving grace, something to finally help him.

He wasn't sure how he felt about what he read.

_Winchester,_

_Meet under the town bridge after 2am, don't let anyone follow you._

_Bring your angel._

And that was it. He stared at the type, a regular Times New Roman, neutral if not a bit formal. The paper was thin and the tape was cheap. Dean couldn't see any logos on the page so it wasn't an official paper. So it couldn't have been government, could it? He had no real way of knowing, he wasn't a professional when it came to figuring that kind of thing out, he had no idea what he was actually doing. But he knew one thing for sure; he couldn't wait any more. If these people were going to help him, if he was going to take any chance, it'd be now. The government would have killed Castiel while he was away, not leave a note. And Haniel? Well this could be Haniel's group... Dean doubted he was beyond typing up a letter and making a meeting place just to mess with his head. But it also seemed a bit unlikely.

So Dean went. At 1:30 that morning he lifted Castiel onto his back, a large hoodie on the shivering angel's back, covering his face and hiding him from prying eyes. Dean popped the collar high on his jacket and went out into the rainy night, the cold drops hitting his skin like ice, Castiel's shaky breath a constant reminder in his ears. "Hang on, Cas." Dean muttered as he started running, letting the dead weight of his lover thump against his back, each little stutter and whine that came from his angel eroded him just a little more.

They reached the bridge not long after; Dean approached quietly, his eyes fixed on darkened space below, he could see two sets of feet, two silhouettes. His mind told him to be wary, his instincts told him to be nervous, but everything else said 'just do it' because he had no other choice. You never get anywhere if you don't take the chance. Those two people could be anyone but he had a gut wrenching feeling that it was a team, a pair, one human and one angel. Dean swallowed past the lump in his throat and straightened his posture, as much as he could with Castiel hanging off of him.

"Dean," A familiar voice rolled over him as he approached, his heartbeat slowing significantly when he recognized it. Garth and Balthazar stepped out, Garth's face was pulled into a smile, it'd been far too long since they'd seen one another Dean thought the other man looked much older than he should. Then again, he probably looked like death warmed over himself. Balthazar's eyes were immediately drawn to Castiel.

"Bring him here." The angel demanded softly, lifting a small device in his hand.

Dean eyed it, "Hold on, whose side are you guys on?"

"Freedom Fighters'," Garth said evenly, "Believe it or not, Sam came a-calling. Apparently the government's out for both of your heads."

"You could say that." Dean nodded, a smile drawing his mouth a little wider, Sam was alive. Sam was okay and he was stepping up with his old group. "Why haven't I heard anything in the last few months? Normally you guys are so hardcore..."

"Focusing on refugee missions, sadly." Balthazar lifted Castiel carefully, wincing when he heard the soft whining sound that slipped from the poor thing's mouth. "How long has he had this on him?"

"A few months..." Dean lowered his gaze, it was clear to both Garth and Balthazar that Dean was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Failing his spouse was not a good thing to add on top of all that.

"Not that bad, he should be ok." Balthazar whispered as he flipped the key around and wriggled it into the slot on Castiel's collar, a few clicks to the left and right and finally down, it gave a low hiss and suddenly snapped off. Castiel gasped and shuddered, his blue eyes flying open in complete system shock, frantically looking everywhere as he tried to focus on something. The world spun around him and nothing made any sense.

"Dean!" He whined loudly and clutched at empty air, hands desperately searching for the familiarity of his lover. "Help! Dean! Help me! Help me"

Dean rushed to Castiel's side and scooped him away from Balthazar who was trying to calm his brother down. "Cas! Cas I'm here. Oh my god, you're awake." He knew he sounded choked up, he was well aware that he was crying all over again, but the relief from seeing those baby blues open again, from hearing his soul mate's voice, it was indescribable. Castiel's frantic fingers found their way to Dean's coat, gripping it tightly and holding it close. The angel's eyes flicked back and forth, switching their focus rapidly until he seemed to mentally clarify that it was his husband holding him there.

Castiel buried his head against Dean's chest and sobbed, his entire body shaking, mind still racing to find something. He babbled a long stream of gibberish and incoherence before falling limp again, unconscious and finally without pain. Dean stroked the moistened black hair slowly; he could feel the hysteria slipping and smiled sadly, "He's okay now..."

"He will be," Balthazar corrected, "But he needs to rest. That was a long time to be exposed to this sort of thing. As long as you stay with him he'll be alright."

"I'd never leave him." Dean said firmly. "I'll know when he's awake."

"In the meantime I think I need to brief you on what's going on with everything. You been keeping up with the war?" Garth walked over and stood at his angel's side.

"Mostly, yeah." Dean lifted Castiel up again, back into piggy-back position, "It's been a tie so far for brute strength. The humans are starting to pool together, it had been mostly every country for themselves against the angel rebellion but that's starting to change. I'm not so sure who's going to win."

"Well no one  _can_  win." Balthazar shook his head, "For all the angels that are out there they only have a few choices, either they can become refugees and live in the safer secluded areas blocked off and protected by the Freedom Fighters, fight alongside Sam and the rest of us, or join Haniel. Haniel has a lot of supporters and followers. In fact I'd dare to say about 90% of the angels are with him."

"Maybe more." Garth added, "But none of them are capable of bonding, except for Haniel himself. The guy made himself human." The mention of it had Balthazar cringing, Dean imagined it couldn't be anything healthy or pain-free. "And it's insane because he's got the focus of... well... I don't know but I've never seen it before. They're a strong team, really strong. They beat Sam and Gabriel, but you knew that already, you saw the after math."

"Yeah, Gabe was hospitalized." Dean looked down as he recalled how messed up Sam had been, the way those big green eyes stared at him, expecting him to join the fight.  _'I should have... I really should have.'_  "How's Sam now?"

"He's fine, the night they announced his death he actually made it out alive." The angel smiled and glanced over at Garth who seemed pretty happy about it. "Someone saved his and Gabriel's lives back there, it was a crazy initiation into the Freedom Fighters, I'm thinking."

Dean raised an eyebrow, looking between the two as they both shook their heads. "Who?"

"Calls himself Jet," Garth replied after exchanging a look with his angel. "And I have to say, he's my favourite addition. The guy's awesome."

"I've heard." Dean smiled and nodded, he remembered the stories, remembered how frustrated Sam had gotten with the other man.  _'Saved his life, huh? Guess he wasn't as much of a jackass as you thought, huh Sammy?'_  "So he's part of the team now?"

"One of the top dogs, really. He's great with resources and giving orders, not too great at taking them so only Sam's allowed to really give those to him. He's fine if you ask him to do something but ordering him around doesn't work out." Garth tapped his fingers along his jaw as he considered Jet's character, "Rough around the edges maybe but a nice guy."

"Well he saved Sam, already awesome in my books," Dean glanced over his shoulder at the unconscious head pressed against his back, "Is there anywhere else we can go? I don't want to stand out in the open like this with him."

"Yeah, that's the second reason we came out here." Garth's expression grew a little more serious; he straightened his posture and tried to look intimidating. He was still the same big eyed, big eared guy so it didn't work the way he imagined it would, but Dean didn't mention it. "You can come back with us, but you have to join the cause and help Sam out. You aren't allowed to just be a refugee."

Dean narrowed his eyes, his jaw set firmly. The two stared at one another tensely for a few seconds before the older Winchester nodded, "It's about damn time he and I stepped into this, I think."


	15. Chapter 15

_Castiel smiled as he walked outside, the rain hitting his face like little drops of heaven. It'd been so warm and dry lately that the oncoming downpour was more than welcomed. He closed his eyes and wandered further outside, their summer home miles from anywhere, just wide open fields and hills, a heavy tree line to the south, it was beautiful. And now it was all being soaked down to the roots. Castiel stepped out in his white button-up shirt and thin black pants, he wasn't sure what they were made of but they weren't meant for much more than bumming around._

_Bare feet skidded through the grass, rain soaking him nearly instantly. He lifted his head and let it fall down his face, he could feel his spirits rising slowly, something just felt amazing about being out in the rain._

" _Cas?" Dean leaned out the door, watching his angel trot barefoot through the wet grass. "It's raining, get back inside."_

" _Nope." Castiel looked up with a playful expression, his eyes daring as he continued along, away from the house._

" _At least put shoes on." Dean frowned._

" _Nope."_

" _Cas, you're being-"_

" _Nope!" Castiel called as he ran through the rain, his dark hair matted to his forehead, white shirt clinging and see-through, pants nearly as bad except at least they weren't white._

_Dean smiled a little, hearing the soft fading laughter of his husband as the silly angel ran off. "You're so going to get it for this." He shoved his feet into the nearest appropriate footwear, a pair of yellow rubber boots sitting in the closet. He was surprised they fit but that didn't matter so much, he had a runaway angel to catch._

_The rain started coming down even harder, he could feel it pounding on his skin as he approached the figure ahead, Castiel was crouched down next to the ditch, something dirty and plastic in his hands. "Whatcha got there?" Dean asked as he leaned over, squatting beside his partner and leering at the object._

" _A... little toy boat." Castiel said with amusement, his eyes squinted as he looked at it, "Think we could sail this across the lower part of the backyard?"_

" _Probably." Dean smirked, "Wanna see?"_

_Castiel grinned and took off running again, Dean wasn't sure what got into his feather-head lover but he wasn't complaining. Castiel didn't always act so playfully and it was nice to see among all the political standings and faces they put on. It was very refreshing._

_They raced to the backyard, Castiel in the lead of course, the dirty toy boat still clutched in his hands as he went. There was a dip in the property where the water was pooling greedily. Castiel knelt next to it, smiling as the rain's intensity had increased, the droplets were so big and so heavy that one might be concerned, but the lack of wind is what made it incredible. It was just rainfall, nothing painful, nothing dramatic, just water droplets. And it was coming down fast enough that the puddles were already massive, enough for a little toy boat._

_Dean walked up behind his angel and watched his pale hand release the little blue and white plastic toy. There was something serene about how it was floating, something beautiful that Dean couldn't put his finger on. But it didn't matter, not as much as Castiel's smile. "You're beautiful." He knelt down and reached for the boat, to pick it up again._

_Castiel stuck his hand into the water and splashed it up into Dean's face._

" _Ack! What the heck?" Green eyes narrowed as they stared in the stubborn angel's direction.  
_

" _Don't mess with the boat." Castiel said sternly, his face as straight as ever._

_Dean could see through it though. "Oh yeah?" He splashed back, "Not so funny, is it? Muddy water in your face-HEY!" He gurgled through another face-full of puddle-water. "You little-AGH!"_

_It was a full on water fight after that, both full grown men splashing each other, running through puddles and doing their best to knock the other over. Castiel spun around at just the right moment, Dean collided with him and they fell into the lowest point of their backyard, the water running over them freely as they wrestled. Castiel ended up on top, of course. Angelic strength wasn't non-existent, after all._

_Dean smiled up at the pretty blue eyes staring down at him, "You're still beautiful, even if you are annoying."_

_Castiel's lips parted in a grin and he leaned down to kiss his human, their mouths hot against one another in the cooling rain. "I love you," Castiel whispered once it was broken._

" _I love you too."_

* * *

Dean stepped into the room, his nerves were on fire. He'd just laid Castiel down in their given room, abandoned him there to see his brother. Sam was alive, he knew it but it was still such a relief to have actual proof of it. The taller of the brothers looked up from a map, a smile relieving his face of so many darker things, things Dean didn't want to think about himself. But neither of them could avoid it.

"Dean, you're finally here." Sam rose and hurried to his brother's side, wrapping him in a hug and sighing softly. "I'm glad to see you made it out, okay."

"Sort of." Dean smiled and leaned back, "Cas wasn't so 'okay' but he's better now, thanks to you."

"Jet, actually." Sam looked a little sheepish, "Jet's the one who got the intel on the master key, he's also the one who went to get it."

"I owe him more than a thank you for saving your life then." Dean raised an eyebrow, his expression holding the 'I'm impressed' look. It didn't happen often that he was taken aback by other people, this was a new look.

"Yeah, we both do." Sam agreed and looked back at the map with a furrowed brow, "I wish we could get in there... Best I can do is track the fights right now."

"Well when the refugees all find their way here and every angel has managed to pick a side, I think you'll have more chances." Dean crossed his arms and looked down thoughtfully, "We just need to be patient."

"While we're patient the angels and humans are killing each other..."

"Well not much we can do about that now, it's happening and we couldn't stop it, can't stop it, not yet." Dean looked around the room for a moment, "Who do you all have here?"

"Everyone worth mentioning, and then some." Sam smiled, "Once this all broke out, everyone knew they couldn't stay neutral, they tried, like we all did but it didn't work for them either. Michael and Bela are fighting with us, Raphael and Annie, you saw Balthazar and Garth, I just don't know where Anna and Chuck are. Chuck's one of the people I'd like to talk to."

"Wouldn't we all? But there's nothing Chuck can do, you know that."

"I know I just," he ran his hands up through his hair; Dean noted that he should get his brother a haircut. "I don't know... I feel like he'd have more answers, a bigger picture than all of this."

"Well don't count on it. He's not able to put his God boots on; he's given everything to keep his angels up and about so I doubt he can even look at this in the omni-present kind of way." Dean circled around to look closer at the different markings laid out, "Any clue as to who's winning?"

"If I had to take a guess, I'd say Haniel's gonna have the upper hand soon." Sam shook his head, "The angelic weapons work on them but a lot of what the government is using is only helpful against a single angel. It worked so well the first time because all of the angels were weaker, they were running low on strength and energy because heaven was falling apart, they were taken by surprise and majority of them were caught the first time. Now? Well now they're organized and standing behind a single cause. Haniel's been at this warring thing for his entire existence, which is a lot longer than any of us. He's good, he outsmarts them on every turn and can see past what they're doing to what they haven't even realized they will eventually plan. It's scary to watch that kind of fight unfold. Everything is going according to Haniel's plan, I just... I don't know what his end game in the war is going to be."

"Sounds like you've been over thinking this." Dean mused solemnly, sitting down and staring at what he was now understanding as the source of his brother's recent frustrations.

"I don't think I've been thinking about it enough." Sam countered and pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly before sitting down as well. "I can't get ahead of it."

"Well from what you told me, I don't think you can. You need a strategist from the angel side for this kind of thing, someone who knows Haniel."

"We've got Camael but he's pretty quiet most of the time." Green eyes shifted toward the door, his facial features twisted in a way that made Dean curious as to what he was thinking now. "I'm not sure he's a strategist though," Sam finally said after a moment of silence, "He's an angel of judgement, he just sort of _knows_  things, strategy isn't part of it."

Dean nodded and tapped his fingers on his chin for a few seconds, mind whirring to life. He was so glad to be helping in something, to be useful. Sitting with Castiel that way for so long was bad enough; he hadn't felt so helpless in such a long time. At least now he was doing something, tossing ideas out there at least. "What do we know about Haniel's attack dog?"

"Zeruch, angel of strength."

"Sounds rotten already."

"Yeah, the guy's sort of an avenging angel right now. From what I heard his lover was killed by humans and so he fights alongside Haniel willingly." Sam shrugged, "I doubt we'll get any leverage there."

"Who said his lover was dead?" Dean kept digging.

"Camael says that it was something Haniel had witnessed."

"So it could be complete bullshit." It wasn't a question, Dean was banking on it.

"Or it's true. Either way I doubt finding his lover will help-"

"I think it will. Zeruch's only fighting as Haniel's angel because he's pissed, right? Well if we showed him that his anger was misplaced he'll stop and Haniel's just as simple as human right now so it'll make the fight that much quicker." Dean sounded a little excited as he spoke, though he had no ways of going about the plan.

"Even if that worked you're focusing on one side, we still need to worry about the fact that the government's using anti-angel weapons again, and making more of them." Sam's tone was stern though he could see the logic in Dean's words.

"You focus on them," The older Winchester spoke evenly; "We can't both stare at the same thing and expect the same amount of work to get done. You focus on the human side; I'll take care of the angels."

"Like old times." Sam finally cracked a smile.

"Guess so." Dean returned the smile with a grin of his own. "So when do I get to meet Jet?"

"When Jet gets back, I suppose."

"Where'd he go?"

Sam rolled his eyes, "Where didn't he go? The guy's all over the place, taking things into his own hands and all that. I'm not complaining though, he is the one who found you, found the master key, saved my life. I think I can give him free roaming."

"Good point."

* * *

The sounds of the outdoors drifted in through an open window, a warm breeze carried in a myriad of scents as it washed over his face. Castiel's brow twitched as his eyes fluttered open, slowly focusing as he stared up at the drab ceiling, nothing remarkable about it. He hummed to himself, checking to see if his vocal chords were working, yes. He wriggled his toes and flexed his fingers to make sure movement still worked throughout, yes.

He held his breath as he lifted a hand to his neck, arm trembling as he reached for a collar he prayed wasn't there. Relief spread throughout him as fingers touched bare skin, it was gone. He was free again. But how long had he been unconscious? Where was Dean?

Immediately his grace snapped back to where it was supposed to be, their bond reconnected like a bear trap being set off. His heart was able to rest after he felt Dean's presence, knowing his husband was alive, possibly even nearby considering how strong the bond was. That was enough to relax, so he did. Castiel did his best to remember exactly what had happened, what led them to this point. They had refused to take part in the initial bloodshed, insisted they remain peaceful until the very last second. Maybe they had waited too long, the war was started, they should have known that... But the worst of it was their own government turning on them like it had. Who did they think they were dealing with? Dean and Castiel weren't just symbols of peace, they were also world class fighters, the ones who helped lead in the era of harmony that they'd had.

It was all so infuriating and starting to give him a headache, and he hadn't even really considered Sam's part in everything. They should have known that if Sam was attacked they would be too, the four of them were a team, the four of them were family and would always stand by one another. So why hadn't they? Because the world didn't need a fight, not yet. Castiel knew that then, that the state of things would only paint them all a hideous colour, something there'd be no recovering from, even after this ended. He believed they'd made the right choice, Castiel didn't doubt that now, not for a second. He and Dean had done everything in their power to make everything perfect for the other angels, for the humans. They'd done everything they could to keep the situation from escalating, but some things just couldn't be stopped. At least they had the foresight to see beyond the war, past the battles that would ensue. They would be needed again; they would be looked to in the middle of the carnage and after math of a final fight. If they had started the war people would be lost, no one would look to them for help or anything of the sort. This way, when it was over, they could still fix it.

The door opened then, Castiel already knew who it was. Dean couldn't possibly not know he was up, especially after reconnecting their bond so violently. "Cas? Cas are you up?"

"Yeah," Blue eyes slowly lifted and dry lips spread in a pained smile. "I... I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for." Dean dropped down on the bed and wrapped his lover in a hug, nuzzling their cheeks together and kissing fervently along his jaw. "Absolutely nothing," he whispered again.

"But that couldn't have been easy for you..."

"As if you had any control over it," Dean lifted his head again and cupped Castiel's cheek lovingly, "You're okay now; we're getting better, nothing to worry about."

His angel stared up at him for a long moment, tears stinging and threatening to fall over the edge, "You're sure?"

"One hundred percent." Dean offered a reassuring smile, "We're fighting again."

"We'd better be." Castiel laughed softly. "We have to now."

"You going to be okay with that?"

A dark eyebrow rose and the most 'are you fucking kidding me' face Dean had ever seen on his angel's face took over, "Haniel's going to get my foot in his ass one way or another."

"Glad to hear you're back." Dean laughed and kissed his lover again, "I love you Cas."

"I love you too." Castiel smiled warmly before glaring, "Now help me up, we have asses to kick."


	16. Chapter 16

"Chuck?" Anna followed his footsteps carefully, back down to the cage, back to Lucifer's side. "It's been months, I have to ask, why haven't we joined the others?"

"Because they're going to ask me questions I don't have the answers to." Chuck sighed, "And I don't really want to stand there and say 'I don't know' a million times."

"Still! We shouldn't be wasting our time here with Lucifer."

"I need him to do something," Chuck said as they reached the cage, his hand touching the lock and sucking it into himself. "I need his grace for a project."

Anna stared as Lucifer started to rise, wings lifting strangely as he pulled himself up, glazed over eyes glancing toward them. His blonde hair was a mess; he'd been sleeping for quite some time. He stared at them for a moment, eyes fixed to Chuck for a long moment before he stood fully and walked toward them.

"What is this?" He asked warily.

"I can't keep the seal on the cage right now," Chuck answered, "I'm holding onto your strength, though. I need it for something. I want you to go with Anna, the two of you will head to the Freedom Fighters' hideout and help them."

"Wait, what about you?" Anna stepped around in front of him, her brow furrowed in concern.

"I told you, I have a project to work on." Chuck smiled at her, "Now I want you both to behave because I can't be there to reprimand you."

"Very funny, Chuck." Anna sounded nervous, "Seriously, why aren't you coming?"

"Just go, alright?"

She looked at Lucifer, the confusion seemed to be mutual between them, but they listened.

* * *

"Castiel"

"Cas!"

"OH my god you're okay!"

The swarm of angels and humans that ran to him as he and Dean approached the meeting room was incredible, Castiel's face flushed for the first time in a long time, mouth held open slightly as he took in the affection of people who cared about him. Family and friends alike ran to hug him, nuzzling his cheeks and clinging to his limbs. He smiled and tried to say hi to them all though Dean tugged him along and through the crowd. "He's got work to do, sorry guys."

"Bye Cas!"

"We love you!"

"Glad you're better!"

Castiel waved sheepishly before regaining his composure at Dean's side, "That was..."

"All for you," Dean smiled and held him close, "Apparently when everyone heard about what happened to you it was a no brainer to go and find that key. Jet's the one that spear-headed the whole thing."

"So you're telling me that there's only one key, two now that Jet copied it, that can free any angel from those wretched collars? And Jet, he's the one that had been giving Sam so much trouble in the past, right?"

"Right on all counts." Dean couldn't stop smiling, hearing his angel's voice, feeling him up and walking at his side, it was the best thing he could have asked for at that moment. "Sam and I had a discussion earlier and we decided we need to split up the work load, it's silly to have all minds on the same task when there are several to be dealt with."

"What'd you split them up into?" Castiel raised an eyebrow as they approached the doors, stopping before they entered.

"Sam and Gabriel are going to focus on the human side of things, they were always good at fighting against the anti-angel tools and mindset, I'll let them take that field. You and I are going to focus on taking Haniel down."

"I don't... I don't think I can beat him if I can't fly." Castiel fidgeted and looked away, his chin caught by gentle fingers as Dean turned his head back.

"Yes you can. I know you can." Dean whispered, their eyes met again and Castiel felt the little shudder in his heart, a warming smile coming to his face. Dean believed in him, he could do just about anything. "Besides, I wanted to focus on getting at Zeruch, without him Haniel's a fish out of water."

"Zeruch? How on earth are you going to get him down? He's got nothing to lose." Castiel shook his head and looked away, "He lost the only other person he cared about, I don't see how we can beat him without fighting him."

"His lover, I think his lover is still alive." Dean smiled, his confidence made Castiel waver slightly.

"Dean..." The angel shook his head, "His lover, Rochel, fell. He fell to earth and was killed; his mutilated wings were all that were left of him."

"I don't buy it," Dean shook his head and put his hand on the door, "Haniel's the one who told Zeruch-"

"It's a known fact, Dean." Castiel argued firmly, "All that was found were his wings and remains of some hair and clothing. He's gone."

Dean closed his eyes and opened the door, not wanting to lose that little bit of hope he had. "Hey," a new voice greeted him, green eyes flashing open immediately to see a taller, brown-haired man standing next to a staff-wielding angel. Camael absolutely had to be that angel, which meant Dean was finally meeting Jet.

"You've got to be that annoying guy I've heard so much about," Dean grinned and walked over, his hand extended, "Name's Dean."

"Jet," he flashed white teeth in a half smirk as he laughed, firmly shaking the other Winchester's hand. "Nice to finally meet you, I've seen a lot."

"Mostly good, I hope." Dean glanced back toward Castiel as his angel gracefully joined him, standing quietly at his side, blue eyes fixed on the newest member of their team. "This is Castiel."

"Nice to meet you too," Jet reached over and took the angel's hand as well, not disconnecting the eye contact they had going. It was a little weird to see but Dean thought for a second they were having a staring contest.

"Thank you," Castiel finally said, "You saved Sam and Gabriel, and now you've saved me. I don't know how we could repay you for all of this."

"I've only got one thing in mind," Jet smirked and clapped Castiel on the shoulder, "I'd like to call you Cas, if that's okay."

The angel was taken aback by this but he smiled warmly, "Of course you can, Jet."

"Awesome, now onto business," The vigilante spun on his heels and walked over to the table that Sam was still brooding over, "I overheard you guys planned on splitting up the workload, right?"

"Yep," Dean took a seat, Castiel at his side like always. It felt too good to have him just  _be_  there. "Any objections?"

"Not really, I think it's a good idea." Jet smiled, turning a gaze toward Camael, "So can you tell us more about Zeruch's lover and how that whole thing went down? Dean might need it."

Camael looked tired at the thought of it but nodded, "I used to know Rochel quite well."

" _You know you aren't allowed to do that." Camael stood stoically watching the cherub as Rochel had attempted to sneak off to the third heaven._

_The slender form froze for a moment, Rochel squeezed his eyes shut in a silent curse before turning around again. "Camael, I don't know what-"_

" _You're about to lie to me? Really?"_

_Rochel turned his head away, ashamed and clearly very nervous. "I was... I... Please, please don't say anything." He looked up with pleading eyes, knowing full well that Camael was the angel of judgement, if anyone was going to be pissed at him and throw him into the third heaven's prison cells, it'd be Camael._

" _You know that angels are forbidden to do that kind of thing, especially with one another. You and Zeruch have to stop this." Camael was far from lenient, he stood tall and seeming to tower over the offending cherub, Rochel's heart thundering in his ears, chest tightening with each passing second under Camael's stare. "But I won't say anything."_

" _Camael..." Rochel blinked in surprise, "You... you mean it?"_

" _I do, but that doesn't mean I'll stand up to defend you if you're caught, you understand? You shouldn't... you shouldn't go tonight."_

" _I understand, but I have to." Rochel smiled and looked down, his expression one that Camael couldn't say he fully understood. "I'll see you around." With that the cherub took off._

"It was the last time I saw him before it all happened. I had been trying to stop him from going to Zeruch, a Power angel and one of far less importance than Rochel. The other seraphim already knew, Michael and Raphael were aware and had already given the seraphim their free range in dealing with it. At the time Gabriel was already long gone from heaven, bored with it," he glanced over at the smiling brunette next to his taller partner, Gabriel waving playfully. "Michael was busy and Raphael couldn't have cared less for the situation, so the punishment and all the rest was left to the seraphim. Haniel was the leader of the third heaven and the immediate superior of one of the offending angels, so he had to spear-head the whole thing."

Castiel closed his eyes like he remembered being there, "It happened so close to the garrison," he said as he slowly looked up toward Camael, "We were standing watch like always, Rochel and Zeruch had snuck by. I think they were planning on running to earth, like Gabriel had done."

"Right," Camael nodded, "We ambushed them, along with several of the strongest Powers."

" _HALT!" Camael had demanded, catching the two fleeing angels' attention like deer caught in headlights._

" _Zeruch..." Rochel whispered, his face twisted in what could only be fear._

_Zeruch's body tensed against him, his breath caught in his chest as he looked at the intimidating squad before them. Haniel's presence was enough for him to know they had absolutely no chance of escaping, not both of them. He looked down at the terrified look in his lover's eyes and knew he could never let Rochel be put through the torture in the third heaven, assuming that would be the punishment. Death was a lot more likely._

" _Step away from the edge," Haniel instructed, walking closer, his neutral expression holding firmly, almost looking a bit pissed off. "Zeruch," his tone was one of warning, he didn't want to lose his best fighter._

" _I love you." Zeruch whispered, his hands gripping Rochel's shoulders._

" _Zeruch, I-" In that moment Rochel found himself thrown over the edge, his eyes widening further as he watched the sad smiling face of his lover disappear. "Zeruch!" He shrieked, no angel was supposed to descend this way, especially not with an onslaught of angelic attacks and projectiles flying after him. Zeruch had acted as a shield for most of it but some of them tore right through him._

_Zeruch closed his eyes as he heard the distantly fading screams of his partner and best friend, letting the attacks hit him but never letting another angel past. He was formidable and no less so when he was fighting for Rochel's safety._

" _Enough." Haniel snapped, his hand firmly connecting with the back of Zeruch's neck and letting the angel crumple into his arms, "Damn it, Zeruch..." He cursed softly, a bitter laugh leaving him, "Why did you have to be so stupid?"_

" _He's in your care now," Camael said wearily, walking over to the edge and peering over, all he could see was a trail of fire leading straight to the earth below._

"Rochel was a good friend of mine, well... I mentored him." Camael closed his eyes in memory, "He was brilliant, he really was. I couldn't have asked for a better annoyance to pop up every day."

"Sounds like you miss him." Jet mused, "The rumours about his death, are they true?"

"I never saw proof, honestly I don't believe it." Camael frowned, "The news originated with Haniel, I've never fully trusted him... he's lied on more occasions than anyone else I know and I don't think he's sane any longer."

"No duh." Dean raised an eyebrow but received a jab in the ribs for that one.

Castiel shook his head at his husband before looking back at the angel of judgement, "Any possible way we can find him?"

"Well I'd say 'let's ask Rochel'," Camael smirked, "He's known as the angel of lost things. If you've lost something, anything, he can return it to you. Normally the rule is 'if it was never meant to be lost' but that was a guideline and though he didn't often abuse it, he did on occasion bend the rules. However he's the one we're missing, so I have no idea."

"Then we'll have to get on that. What's he look like?" Sam finally spoke up, this wasn't really his jurisdiction but he couldn't help but toss ideas in, nothing wrong with that. They hadn't differentiated into who was tackling what problem just yet, so why not?

"I'll have one of the more artistic angels draw you a picture," Camael replied evenly.

Before anyone else could speak up Garth bolted into the room, "Uh, chiefs? Something important you might want to see... knocking at the front door and shit..."

Sam rolled his eyes and was the first one out the door; usually this was his thing if 'chiefs' were called. His heart caught in his chest when he stared at the two waiting beyond it, Anna smiled at him sheepishly and right behind her was a somewhat grinning Lucifer. Sam pushed her around behind him, a protective motion that she wouldn't soon forget, and slammed the devil into a wall. "What the  _hell_  are you doing here?" He snapped viciously.

"Interesting choice of words-gck!" Lucifer choked on his tongue when Sam's hand clamped down on his neck.

"You evil son of a bitch, I'll fucking kill you." Sam snarled, not letting up, not questioning the fact that he even  _could_  strangle the archangel, he was too angry to really get past it.

"Sam!" Gabriel shouted and pulled his partner off his brother, "Sam cool it!"

"God..." Lucifer gasped as he slumped against the wall, gulping air in to feed his lungs. "God asked me... asked me to help... Holy shit..." he laughed softly through his breathing, slipped to the ground and coughing. "You're stronger than I remember."

"Fuck you." Sam was about to hit him again though Gabriel caught his arm.

"Sam, if Chuck sent him here we need to figure out why, and why Anna's here, okay?" Gabriel didn't let Sam's arm go, knowing the Winchester rage well enough.

Sam growled but lowered his arm, about to turn away before swinging a leg and kicking Lucifer in the stomach, "That's for before." He pulled away from Gabriel and hefted the other archangel back to his feet, "But I'll hear you out."

"Awesome," Lucifer groaned, keeping his smile in place. "You're a real peach."

"Lucifer, he's gonna kill you." Gabriel looked at his with a raised eyebrow, "Don't be stupid."

"I also have this." Lucifer lifted up a piece of paper, "He gave it to me before He left."

Sam snatched it and stepped away, knowing he'd be tempted to hit the archangel again if he stayed close. "It's an address in Brooklyn... Why?"

"You'll find something there, is my guess." Lucifer groaned and straightened up, "So can I come in?"

Sam glared for a moment longer but said nothing else, walking back inside and motioning for Anna and Gabriel to follow. "Sweet." The blonde devil smiled and walked in ahead of Gabriel, just in case the door was closed on him.

"You know I should be hitting you too," Gabriel warned.

"But you haven't yet."

"No... that's because it was my job to protect Sam and I failed, beating you up over my own weakness back then is stupid and I won't do it. But I'll let you know now, Sam's mine and I  _will_ fight you if I have to."

"Fair is fair," Lucifer nodded in agreement.

Sam looked at Anna, "Where's Chuck?"

"I don't know, he wouldn't tell me." She shook her head, "I wish I knew, all he said was that he had a project to work on and then he was gone."

Sam put a comforting arm around her shoulders, "It'll be alright, I'm sure he won't be gone long."

"Well if he has a plan he'd better hurry the hell up because this world can't take much more of the fighting." She furrowed her brow in distaste. "It's only been a few months of this crap but still, the death toll is so high on both sides, it's horrendous."

"I know." Sam shook his head as he walked back into the meeting room, letting her and the other two angels follow him in. "So guess who was waiting at the door?" He said with a slight smile.

"Anna!" Dean ran over and gave her a hug, Castiel right behind him.

"Hey guys," She smiled and hugged back, more than happy to see them again. "We should hang out more often."

"I think so," Castiel laughed and kissed her cheek. "Where's Chuck?" He looked up and stiffened when he spotted Lucifer.

"Don't mind him," Sam sounded angry though he did his best to keep his expression neutral, "He doesn't have his grace intact."

"Oh..." Castiel walked across the room and stared Lucifer right in the eye, their gazes locked and for a moment it felt like the intensity of the sun was in the room.

Jet leaned over to Dean and bumped his shoulder gently, "He really likes to do that, doesn't he?" He whispered.

Dean smirked and nodded, "Cas is good at judging a person's character, something about how they react to his stare. That and he just sort of always did that."

Lucifer's body was tense, eyes starting to flick back and forth between focusing on Castiel's left and right, he swallowed nervously and could remember every detail of their fight ten years ago, those vicious blue eyes and the way his body moved. "I'm sorry." Lucifer said after a long moment of this, his hand reaching around and touching Castiel's back, where his wing should have been. "I'm... so sorry Castiel."

The blue-eyed gaze lightened and before Lucifer knew it Castiel's arms were around him in a hug, most everyone present was fairly shocked. "I know you are." He whispered, his entire being giving off that unending forgiveness he'd been known to have. "You're very welcome to help us, if you want." He said after leaning back, though his arms remained around his brother. "I know you're looking for a way of redemption, aren't you?" Lucifer narrowed his eyes, an angry way of trying to keep the tears at bay but Castiel saw them, a gentle hand coming up and simple swipe of a thumb across his cheek. "You can cry," he smiled, "No one will think any less of you."

' _Not that that's possible at this point.'_  Sam thought bitterly, watching with a pained heart. He hated seeing any angel this way and knowing that technically Lucifer was supposed to be his, that they were meant to be together like Dean and Castiel, it made it that much harder to watch. He stepped closer to Gabriel, feeling the way his angel's chest puffed up slightly at just that tiny motion. Gabriel was probably feeling a bit threatened, a stupid thought and Sam would have to tell him so later.

Lucifer hesitated but fell into Castiel's waiting arms, dropping his head against his little brother's shoulder and letting go. Letting go of all the anger, the hatred, the stupid facade of everything he'd ever been and cried for the first time since he was in heaven. All the while Castiel remained strong beside him and refused to let go.


	17. Chapter 17

" _So where's the address?"_

" _Brooklyn."_

" _That's quite a ways away from here."_

" _I'm aware, but I think it has something to do with your side of things."_

" _Sam you can't just assume that because you don't want to go there."_

" _Dean, just go, alright? I sincerely doubt it has anything to do with the government. Besides, I have to take a team out that way to make a statement, just go."_

Dean frowned as he and Castiel finally pulled up to the street address, he remembered his conversation with his brother too well and it was still annoying him, despite being a few days ago. Castiel sat staring out the window, he didn't really like car trips but he suffered through them because Dean did. "What do you think is here?" Dean looked up at the house; it was modest and nothing special. Just God's style. "Think it's a weapon or something?"

"Nope." Castiel shook his head and hopped out, "But I have a feeling we'll be able to use whatever it is. Come on."

They approached the door and rang the bell, neither of them knowing what to expect. Here they were in Brooklyn on a quiet neighbourhood street ringing someone's bell. Their friends and family were out fighting, Dean was well aware of this. Sam's side of it at that moment consisted of confronting the people, taking over their televisions, taking over their radios, their internet connections and everything else, because Sam had Charlie and that girl was damn epic. People would soon hear the voice of the man they all thought was dead. Now that the Freedom Fighters had settled a lot more, now that they were stable and capable of moving while taking care of refugees, they were able to start fighting back without having to worry about falling apart in the process.

Dean had to hand it to Sam; he was one hell of a leader. It took a lot more than Dean had in him to be able to take charge in these types of situations, he'd be willing to bet that if Gabriel had been taken down by a collar Sam wouldn't have been as broken down about it. But maybe he would be, Dean couldn't erase the image of his brother sitting at Gabriel's bedside in that hospital those months ago. It felt like years but he knew it couldn't possibly be. If Haniel had been running rampant for years the world would be over by now.

The door finally opened and a pale, silver short-haired (to his credit, gorgeous) man appeared with the strangest coloured eyes Dean had ever seen. This had to be an angel. The pale eyes glanced between them and settled on Castiel, no angel didn't recognize that dark hair and those blue eyes, not in this day and age. "Castiel?"

"You're..." Castiel stared with a dumbfounded look, "Rochel? Rochel is that you?"

The man glanced around quickly and motioned for them to come inside, "What are you doing here?"

"We got an address from a friend," Dean looked the angel over, "You look different than I pictured."

Fury danced across the sharp glare that he received for that comment, Rochel's mouth twisted in anger for a moment before he calmed himself down, no need to lose his temper already, "Where did you hear about me? No angel has approached me in years."

"It has been a long time for you," Castiel smiled sadly, "We all thought you were dead."

"That's good... it explained why I didn't have any visitors... So then who had my address?"

"God." Castiel answered evenly, noting the slight look of shame on Rochel's face. "He knows everything, you knew that."

"Well after all the other angels came down I... I didn't know what to think. He's alive?" Rochel looked slightly hopeful; it was his father as well, after all.

"For now, He's very weak. We were told by Anna that He gave up all his strength to save us instead of fixing heaven. At any rate, we need you." Castiel stepped closer as Rochel stepped away, "Please."

"What can I possibly do for you?" Rochel looked down and ran a hand over his face, "I'll just get collared like the others."

"You can talk to Zeruch." Castiel said firmly, watching the spark in those defeated eyes. He'd heard stories about the cherub Rochel long before heaven had fallen. He was a strong willed individual; he was a fighter though not a soldier like the others. Each angel could fight, well, aside from the cupids but those were just funny to watch. Not physically powerful but when it came to angelic magic he was very skilled, formidable if ever attacked. Of course, Rochel didn't often fight. An angel of lost things was much more likely to be empathetic and sympathetic and just generally more open to feelings, a bleeding heart. But what Castiel had been seeing until just then, until mentioning his lost lover's name, Rochel's eyes had been all but deadpan. The spark inside them was more than enough to allow Castiel to hope for a good answer.

"Zeruch..." Rochel ran his hand up into the straight locks hanging across his forehead, pushing back though they fell to the same place again. "I don't know what he's thinking... I can't get close to him, Haniel will kill me if he knows where I am."

"Well we probably gave your location away so you'll have to come with us now." Dean walked over and took Rochel's arm, noticing how easy he was to pull closer. "You're not-"

"No, I pulled my grace out." Rochel lifted a necklace with the glimmering power inside, "After I fell and after I ran into that human... Well I had to pull it out. If any of the angels above me had located my grace then Zeruch's sacrifice would have been in vain... I thought he was dead, when I fell I thought they'd kill him."

Castiel could feel his heart aching just listening to this, he couldn't imagine being in that situation, to lose Dean or think him dead like that, it'd be unbearable. "He's alive and he thinks _you're_  dead, that's why he's hurting all these people, you need to come with us."

"You guys are like Romeo and Juliet." Dean mused, earning a glare from both angels. "Sorry."

"Do you think you could get me close enough?" Rochel asked worriedly. "I'm not exactly in the strongest of positions; if I put my grace back in Haniel will know I'm here for sure."

"We'll protect you," Castiel said firmly, taking his hand as he smiled, "Trust me."

"I do." Rochel nodded, "I always did." It meant more than he knew for Castiel to hear that.

* * *

_Haniel stared at the gates, the locked down and miserable looking things situated in his heaven. Golden eyes narrowed slightly as he listened to the sounds beyond it, a smile creeping onto his lips, a hand touching the gate's lock tentatively. "You know if you wait by the door I can't exactly walk through it." He said softly, watching as a monster stepped forward, in the dark space its black eyes appeared to almost not be there._

_A crooked smile was returned to the angel before the demon snarled bitterly, "You're walking a dangerous road, angel."_

" _Please, you're hardly worth a second more of my time." Haniel raised a hand, a quick swipe through the air and even beyond the gate the beast wasn't safe, its face twisting in grotesque agony before its head slowly slid off its shoulders. "Always sending the grunts to greet me, guess he hasn't learned yet." He opened the door and walked inside, the gates clicking shut again behind him._

" _Haniel," Yellow eyes flashed as he entered the meeting place, "So good of you to finally join us."_

_Haniel crossed the room to the demon's side and leaned over him, his expression never wavering from that almost seductive smile and stare, their noses almost touched and he could feel his host's form quiver, just slightly and barely enough to notice. "Azazel," he spoke sweetly though there was a dark undertone to his voice. Haniel chuckled and stepped back, not missing the relief that took over Azazel's eyes for a brief second. The demon was good at keeping his cool but after the last time he'd pissed Haniel, well, the gruesome scar hadn't healed yet. "Sorry I'm late, gotta put the little ones to bed."_

" _Your Powers, I imagine?" Azazel's gusto was back in place like it had never wavered, though he still kept his body angled away to keep the wound far from Haniel's reach._

" _Obviously, not like I have children." Haniel gracefully sat down and crossed a leg over the other, a slight frown on his face as he fussed with the angelic robes he was meant to wear. "Did you know these things are impossible to deal with sometimes? If I could wear my battle armour all the time I'd be a happy seraph."_

_His odd sense of small talk only made the demons present more uncomfortable, no one liked sitting in the same room as Haniel, the unpredictable bastard._

" _What news do you have?" Azazel decided to cut to the chase, figuring that if he let him, Haniel would go on like that for a while._

" _Good and bad." Haniel folded his fingers and leaned forward on the table. "I can, in fact, destroy the heavens. It'll be fairly simple, I know exactly where to set up the key points of a spell I found, the fissures should open up in the seventh heaven and most of the strongest angels will be taken down that way." He tapped his fingers to his lips for a moment, "However there's a glitch. We're attached to the power source and without it every angel willl wither."_

" _Alright, I see the good news in that, what's the bad news?" Azazel chuckled, "Joking, of course. What can we do about it?"_

_Haniel's smile spread wider and it sent a shiver down Azazel's spine, "Let me see yours."_

* * *

Prison hadn't exactly been kind to a lot of the men who had done wrong against the rest of the world, especially the ones from the start of it all; the ones who tormented some of the highest revered public figure heads. Crowley had spent the last ten years of his life sentence sharing bunks with people and figuring out the best ways to slip by unnoticed. He was good at what he did, a business man through and through. And often he was capable of instilling his own style of fear in the other inmates. Let's just say that a man who willingly takes it up the ass and can talk circles around anyone isn't considered normal in the prison culture.

He's eyes remained fixed on the ceiling of his cell, it was free roaming time and he didn't entirely feel like playing with the others. He knew about the situation of the world, he could even feel some of the fights from his jail. Nothing about this was small scale, it was all huge and it was going to end catastrophically one way or another. The angels weren't lying down anymore; they weren't just sitting back and taking whatever they got.  _'Haniel's leading them... That worries me.'_

As Crowley was about to roll over and sleep for a bit he felt the entire foundation shake, he sat up though he didn't quite make it to sitting because a hand was gripping the collar of his shirt and pulling him to the edge of the bed. He swallowed nervously when he came nose to nose with the angel of joy.

"Hello, Crowley." Haniel said in a nearly sing song voice, which was odd because his usual tenor pitch didn't seem like it'd do sing song well. Clearly Crowley was wrong about that.

"Haniel, nice to see you-gk!" He hacked on his words as the hand on his collar slipped to his neck.

"Time to come with me, you've sat this out long enough I think."


	18. Chapter 18

"I have a message for you."Sam spoke into the microphone, staring into the camera placed in front of him. He knew that the entire world could see him, knew that he wasn't just sitting there alone in a room with Gabriel at his side, people were watching him. Thanks to Charlie they'd hacked into every digital display, onto every network. They were as live as they'd ever be. "My name is Sam Winchester, some of you remember me from fifteen years ago when I first started the Freedom Fighters', some of you only know me as the figure head and law defender I became." He paused, knowing people were reacting to his face, to seeing him alive and not assassinated.

"The governments let you believe I was murdered by the angels, that I had been killed by Haniel and his cause. You were riled into rising up, into fighting back, because I was taken down, the symbol of angel-human law, because Dean and Castiel went missing, the symbols of peace." He closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head, "You were lied to, friends. You were all fed false information in order to get your support, in order for them to start a war. And there's nothing you can do about it now, I understand that. The fights have begun, the war is started and people are dying. I know there are hurt feelings all throughout both races, the angels that were peaceful were hunted down and persecuted and forced to join the opposing side. We've given them no choice but to fight us, but you have to remember that not every angel is like that, not every angel wants revenge. We need to remember this when the fighting comes to a close, when it's all over we need to step down and swallow our grief, because we aren't the only ones grieving."

"Brothers, sisters," Gabriel spoke up, leaning past Sam to look at the camera as well, "I need to tell you the same thing, when the orders stop coming, stop fighting. All of you need to stop this or there'll be nothing left for any of us. You're stuck, I know, but that doesn't mean you have to stay there."

Sam took Gabriel's hand and looked down for a moment, their fingers laced together, squeezing for support. "And to those of you who don't think we're enough, we have Dean and Castiel on our side, despite everything they haven't given up hope that things can be set right. And they're not wrong, we'll make things right again." His words were clear and strong as the transmission cut out, he leaned back in his chair once Charlie gave him the cue that they were offline, "Oh my god..."

"Not too bad," Gabriel kissed his cheek playfully, "Been a while."

"That's not it; I could give speeches all day if I had to, just... I wonder how they'll take that?" Sam rolled his head against Gabriel's shoulder, his eyes closed tiredly.

"YO!" Jet's voice shouted from a few rooms over, the guy was freaking loud. "Sammy, not bad!"

"Don't call me Sammy, Jet." Sam frowned, "Only Dean gets to do that."

"Well when he tells me that I'll listen," Jet smirked, leaning in the doorway now, "But until then-"

"Are you even older than me?" Sam glowered at the other brunette who shrugged.

"I'm a year older than your bro, actually." Jet glanced down the hall as he muttered the last sentence, something catching his attention. "Sounds like someone's calling for you."

Sam raised an eyebrow and leaned over to see down the hall when Charlie started trying to get his attention, "Uh, Sam? Sam you should see this..." He was up and leaning over her shoulder in seconds, staring down at the screen as Haniel's face popped up, someone's beaten body tied up behind him.

"Oh shit..."

" _That was cute, Sam."_ Haniel smiled brightly,  _"I didn't want to interrupt."_

"Pssh, because you couldn't." Charlie boasted proudly, earning a pat on her shoulder from Sam.

" _I wanted the world to see this because honestly he represents something I wanted to demonstrate."_  Haniel turned around and approached the man, pulling the bag off his head to reveal Crowley, not looking any older than the last time they'd seen him.

"What the hell?" Sam leaned a little closer, his brow furrowing in confusion.

" _Everyone, if you don't remember, this man is known as Crowley. He was one of the highest ranking men in Angel Entertainment, clawed his devilish way to the top to watch the angels flounder, do grotesque and demeaning things, and of course as you know, fight one another in an arena. He's also the one who, ten years ago, abducted your dear Castiel in a torture session. I think he got off a little easy."_  Haniel knelt down and took Crowley's face in his hand, pinching it and pulling him closer,  _"Much, much too easy."_

Crowley's eyes darted in panic between Haniel's, his mouth gagged so he couldn't say anything, interrupt anything that was about to happen.

" _I intended to capture men of power and take them down, my intentions also included making these men pay, the ones who were part of it all. If you recall several months ago, the day I became known to you all, I had taken down everyone who had something to do with this industry. Crowley here is the exception. He was the only one in a high security prison cell and he's the one I bring to you today as a message. When the war is over, when we win, there is nothing that you can do for yourselves. And another thing, your weapons will be entirely useless very shortly. But I'll let you figure out when that'll be."_ He winked at the camera and glanced over at Zeruch with a nod,  _"This, little humans, will be your end."_

A flash of white across the screen and a horrible rumbling in the speakers was all Sam needed to know what happened but he stayed to see the aftermath, the explosion of red throughout the decidedly white room. The screen cut out just as Haniel started to laugh off camera, the usual network feed returning to normal.

"Oh my god..." Charlie looked up at Sam with frightened eyes, "What the hell did he mean by all that?"

"Something big's going down." Jet answered from her other side, sharp eyes still fixed on the darkened screen. "Shit, something big's coming."

"Yeah..." Sam stepped back, wondering if his message meant anything after that. The answer was a pretty loud 'fuck no' in his head but he didn't say anything.

"Fuck." Gabriel ran a hand through his hair, "That's... not good. We need to figure out what he's planning over there."

"Right, well how do we do that?" Jet raised an eyebrow, "It's not like we have a feed connected to him or anything like that, I don't even know how he gets online the same way we do."

"I can probably look into it," Charlie piped in, her voice a little shaky.

"Good, you do that." Sam started out the door, his phone in hand. "God, Dean pick up."

" _Hello?"_  Dean's voice came over the line clearly, sounding a bit run down but still in a good mood.

"You aren't near a television or anything, are you?" Sam asked abruptly as he hurried through his headquarters to the planning room.

" _Nope, in the Impala with Cas and Rochel."_

Sam froze, "You... you're kidding? You have Rochel? He's the one at that address?"

" _Not kidding, Sammy."_  He could hear Dean smiling,  _"And he's willing to try and help us out, heading home with him now."_

"Well at least we've got some good news." Sam continued down the hall, passing by any other's quickly without much of a look. He was in a hurry after all.

" _What's up on your end? How'd the video thing go?"_

"Mine was pretty good but right after Haniel cut in with his own. He publicly executed Crowley with a promise of ending everything. I think he's done playing games with us, he said that the anti-angel weapons will be useless soon and it's making me antsy knowing about it."

Dean was silent for a moment and finally spoke up again,  _"That's not a good thing. Useless as in he'll steal them all? Or maybe they won't work on angels anymore?"_

"Or he's introducing a new tactic that won't require angels going into the fight." Sam stopped and stared at his planning table with anxious eyes. "It's all so messed up."

" _Yeah we were thinking the same thing."_  Dean said again after relaying the information to the other two in his car.  _"What's the plan? Try and figure out what his plan is?"_

"For starters, yeah. Jet's good at that kind of thing so I'll send him out to spear head that. You need to come back here and we have to figure out what the best way is to incorporate Rochel's return. The team I'd sent out to scour for remaining refugees should be back soon, I'll get those supervisors in on it too."

" _Who are those supervisors?"_

"Michael, Bela, Raphael, and Annie." Sam muttered, "I want to know what they're seeing out there."

" _Good plan. Can't wait to see them again, it'll be pretty interesting."_  Dean mused.

"No more interesting than when you reunited with Garth and Balthazar, I'm sure." Sam retorted, shifting a few things around, moving different icons back to home base and introducing a new one to signify Rochel's addition to all of this. Now he just had to find a way to get Rochel to meet Zeruch again, that might end up being a key point in all of the upcoming mess.

"Anything we can do?" Gabriel walked in and stood at Sam's side, he was followed by Jet and Camael, Lucifer peering in from the hallway though knowing he wasn't entirely welcome in the room.

"Right now," Sam looked over at Jet, "I think you're our best sleuth for the street and one site things, think you can figure out what's been up with Haniel lately?"

"See what I can do." Jet gave a two finger salute before motion to Camael to follow, the angel of judgement slowing down and looking at Sam.

"The address that was given..." He said hesitantly, not sure if he should get his hopes up.

"It was to Rochel," Sam smiled, "He's coming here and should be here when you get back."

"Right." Camael nodded and went after Jet, a renewed sense of getting things done in his mind. He needed to do this quickly otherwise he might miss his old friend's presence in their midst. It was nice to know that Rochel really hadn't died, that the rumours were truly all lies and he could see that obnoxious and hopeful twit again.

"Things are starting to get messy, aren't they?" Gabriel sighed and dropped himself into a chair.

"In a way, yeah." Sam sat down beside him. "But I... I think we've got most of it under control, I think we'll figure this out before anything gets too bad."

"Really? Because I have an awful feeling about all of this, about that execution. It looked too showy, didn't it?"

"Well I imagine Zeruch didn't really like him much."

"Right," Gabriel nodded, "But there was just a splatter of red... I thought Haniel would have preferred to show us some more gruesome details."

"I think he was a bit strapped for time on that one, any longer and Charlie could have figured out their location." Sam rubbed Gabriel's shoulder soothingly. "It's alright, we just need to keep our heads above water." He wasn't sure where these words of empty comfort were coming from, maybe he was scared, maybe he was really actually that in control. Either way he didn't doubt for a second that he was wrong. Just keeping their heads above water meant very little if they didn't catch any of this ahead of time.


	19. Chapter 19

" _Free tickets to what?" Castiel asked as he leaned over the kitchen table staring down at their mail, his weight resting on one leg causing his hips to shift to the side and his butt to stick out. It was more than enough of an invitation for Dean, his hand connecting with the firm backside of his angel; Castiel hardly even flinched though he did chuckle a little._

" _A carnival. They're starting it up for the next few weeks and they gave us free tickets to the pre-opening." Dean slid his hand up Castiel's lower back and around his waist, pulling him a bit closer, their bodies touching and overheating one another, summer was a dreadful thing sometimes. "We got a bunch of tickets to hand out, we're allowed to bring 10 friends."_

" _So Sam and Gabriel for sure." Castiel turned and kissed down Dean's neck playfully, "And Balthazar and Garth, who else?"_

" _Thinking Anna, Chuck, Michael, Bela, Raphael and Annie." Dean replied softly, angling his neck to return the kisses, pressing Castiel against the table, "I should call them."_

" _Mhmm..." Castiel moaned softly before shoving Dean back, "You should, then we have to get to tonight's meeting."_

_Dean rolled his eyes, "Right, obviously. I can't wait for the weekend."_

_The weekend came and to their surprise everyone they invited showed up. Dean and Castiel were the only ones to drive, of course, the last ones to arrive. The only saving grace for them was the fact that they were the ticket holders. "You drove slower on purpose, didn't you?" Castiel smirked glancing over as they hopped out of the Impala._

" _Maybe." Dean gave his best grin as he approached the others, "Guys! Long time no see!"_

" _Too long," Garth was the first one to open his arms and start walking to receive the hug, Sam cutting ahead of him easily and stealing it._

" _Drive here okay?" Sam asked after patting Dean on the back, a little harder than normal._

" _Peaceful," The older Winchester return the passive aggressive gesture with a smile. "Be happy I invited you at all."_

" _Right, like you'd come to this without me." Sam let Garth get his hug then, stepping aside for the shorter man._

_Everyone managed their 'it's been too long' hugs and hello's, the three present archangels a little rough with one another, slaps on the back and tripping each other up every now and then. Castiel smiled in amusement though he didn't join in, sticking with Anna and Balthazar instead. "Not too excited of being on the receiving end of that." He mused, earning a chuckle from the other two._

" _Agreed." Balthazar chuckled and rubbed his brother's shoulder affectionately, "Now let's check out some of these attractions."_

_The first little bit was spent with the angels staring at things with odd curiosity, not sure what the purpose of certain things were, not sure why the rides would be considered impressive, they moved fast and flew through the air all the time. Well, all of them but Castiel, who was particularly enthralled with any of the rides. Dean smiled sadly, watching Castiel run toward things like the rollercoaster, urging him to follow while the other angels were far more interested in the games and odd attractions._

_Dean didn't mind going though, even though he was afraid of flying he wasn't afraid of amusement park types rides. Well, at least he didn't think so. Once strapped into the front of the rollercoaster, Castiel excitedly perched at his side, he felt a little nauseous. Garth and Balthazar jumped in behind them, the smaller male yelling things like 'hell yeah!' and 'bring it on!' But Dean didn't care all that much. What did matter was the was Castiel closed his eyes, let go of the safety bar and lifted his chin as the ride roared onward, wind flying through his hair. Dean was still clinging for dear life to his part of the safety bar but he did at least manage to see that much, the bitter sweet expression on his lover's face, like he was going to cry at any second._

_When they got off Sam was at the bottom laughing his head off, holding up the mid rollercoaster photo but unable to breathe. Dean had his eyes squeezed shut in desperate fear, arms wrapped around the bar and screaming like a child. Castiel was smile all the way his mouth open in what must have been a laugh, arms straight in the air. Garth's arms were in the air too, however he was halfway flying out of the car his expression cut off from view, the only thing holding him down was a very surprised and horrified Balthazar, the angel's eyes opened wide and mouth wider as he'd snatched his idiot human out of the air._

_Gabriel leaned over and joined Sam in laughter, especially since Garth's face had lifted up in the next row's set of pictures, his face twisted in a comedic half-laughing half-screaming sort of expression. "We need to buy all three of these!" The archangel snorted, leaning on Sam who leaned right back._

_Castiel smirked and looked at Dean, "Didn't know you were scared of fast moving things too. So tell me again why you drive the Impala above speed limit?"_

" _That's a delicate issue, and you know it."_

_The next stop was a fun house, those stupid jerky moving mechanical set ups that do their best to knock you down. Dean had a bit of fun on the narrow rolling hallway, he stretched out, pressed his hands to one side and feet to the other and spun around a few times. It was amusing until Sam pinched his belly while he was upside down and he fell face first into the hard plastic. Everyone was laughing and Dean wasn't hurt, at least, nothing but his pride._

_Once at the top Michael paused in front of the mirrors and made a face, not liking that it appeared his midsection had been crushed while his head looked entirely too big. "What the-" he looked at himself, everything seemed normal._

" _Oh my god!" Gabriel tried not to laugh but it was too much to see his older brother believing the silly mirror trick. He snapped up an illusion around himself to make himself look exactly how Michael had thought he'd be deformed, "What's the matter?"_

_Michael looked at his bobble-headed brother and winced, "Gah! Gabriel you're hideous!"_

" _What?" Gabriel walked awkwardly closer, his midsection being creepily pinched making his walk even worse than one might imagine. "What's wrong Michael?"_

_Michael smacked him over the head, "Quit it."_

_Raphael smiled and shook his head, continuing past the mirrors like they were nothing, only to stop and watch Annie make faces at herself. He went and stood directly behind her, stone-faced for a few seconds before making much stranger faces than she ever could. This didn't get her laughing as much as it every other angel present._

_Later in day it became apparent that Castiel had gone missing, the blue eyed angel nowhere to be found so they planned on splitting up to look for him. At least they were going to until Bela pointed him out. Castiel was standing next to a child who had snuck onto the grounds, the kid wasn't actually allowed to be there and would have been escorted away by security but Castiel insisted the kid stay for a bit. Apparently, judging by the look of them, they'd gone on a ride or two already and were now standing at a game booth. It was a ring toss styled game and he was kicking ass at it._

_Dean smiled as he watched Castiel hand the over-sized bear to the ball-capped kid; the bear was just about as big as him. "Holy crap! That's what he's been doing? How is Cas such a freaking awesome guy?" Chuck gestured wildly, "Just goes and wins some stuff for some kid, what the heck?"_

_After that, the security had escorted the child away, Castiel waving casually before he trotted over to his friends again. "You just became someone's hero." Dean laughed._

" _What, him? Nah, he already knew me-"_

" _No, Chuck." Dean smirked, nodding back toward the awed expression on the all-knowing one's face. It didn't really dawn on any of them that they were randomly hanging out with God in a carnival type place, state fair, whatever you wanted to call it. Random day out with God, no big deal._

_The day was coming to a close, the sun was on its way down, nearly disappearing behind the treeline and the different attractions had their lights on. Everyone was getting a bit tired and decided to go though Castiel asked for one last thing before the end of the day. The rest waited by the exit when Castiel and Dean went to take one last ride. Dean thought for sure it'd be the rollercoaster again but it wasn't, to his surprise his angel brought him to the carousel. "Ride with me?"_

" _Sure," Dean smiled and they chose the horses next to one another, Castiel's hands firmly holding onto the small handles, a smile on his face as they rode in quiet circles, getting a quick glimpse of the fairgrounds surrounding them._

" _Thank you for today, Dean." He whispered after a long moment._

_Dean looked up, a little worried by the soft gratitude. "You're welcome, Cas... What's wrong?"  
_

" _Nothing, I just... I had forgotten what fun was like with you." Castiel looked up, that beautiful shade of blue caught with every glimmering light and shining brilliantly, a genuine smile on his lips. "I love you, Dean."_

_Dean knew that they had been very busy, that most of their time together had been spent in a struggle of some kind, it was nice to get down to the simple things. They could spend their lives doing whatever they wants, taking time off as they saw fit and doing silly things like this. It didn't all have to be about the fate of everything else, as long as they got these peaceful moments together._

_He smiled back, the charming and knowing smile that Castiel knew and admired. "I love you too, Cas."_

* * *

"That was a little dramatic, wasn't it?" Crowley asked from the side of the room, his eyes widened with a bit of fear though he was starting to mellow out as he looked up at the grinning ex-angel at his side. "Why go through all those lengths to pretend to kill me?"

"Because you're un-killable." Haniel knelt down next to him and started to undo his bindings. "That's why."

Crowley swallowed anxiously, not liking being so close to someone so unpredictable. "That isn't true-"

"Don't try to lie to me," Haniel snapped, his expression never changing though his tone was far from friendly or sane, "I've been working with your kind for centuries now, you might as well give it up, Crowley."

Crowley's fearful exterior relaxed and he rolled his eyes, "Fine, fine, guess I can't fool all of you, can I?"

"Had a little too much fun torturing angels, didn't you?" Haniel smiled as he straightened up, walking away from the newly untied man.

"Maybe a tad," Crowley stood and dusted himself off, his eyes flashing disturbingly as he looked Haniel over, "You aren't a threat right now, are you? You have to tell me how you do that intimidation thing without any strength behind it."

"It's all about the reputation, I suppose." Haniel sat down and pat a chair nearby, "Now I have something I want to discuss with you,"

"Angels and demons talking? Not sure I like the sound of it." Crowley grinned and took the seat anyway, never letting Zeruch out of his peripheral. "So what could you possibly want with me?"

"There's a reason you were allowed on earth," Haniel explained, leaning back in his seat. "Demons had been sealed away, very tightly, and kept off the Earth, just like angels were meant to stay in heaven. One demon got, one demon alone roamed the planet,  _you_." He playfully poked Crowley in the chest, the crafty demon not feeling so intelligent at that moment. "You were free to do whatever you wished and nothing was there to oppose you. I'd like to commend you for keeping your head low, though. If any other angels spotted you down here you'd have been eradicated much, much earlier."

"What's your point, darling?" Crowley watched those golden eyes carefully, trying to figure out the end game before it was given to him. He wasn't faring so well.

"Point? My point is that  _I'm_  the one who let you out." Haniel crossed one leg over the other and folded his fingers together comfortably. "I need you to help me with something important."

"Like?" Crowley could feel he was out of his league on this one but decided to keep it mostly to himself, keep up that facade of strength and cunning despite not having a single trick up his sleeve.

"Like the gates back home."

"Heaven? I thought it was destroyed-"

"Not my home, yours."

The demon leaned back a little, his brow furrowing and his brave face starting to falter, "What do you want to do with them?"

"I want to open them- god, you're stupid. Do I have to explain everything? Azazel was much easier to deal with." Haniel looked a little flustered and frustrated though Crowley figured it might be an act, Zeruch still remained as quiet and solemn as he'd been since he'd seen the guy.

"You dealt with Azazel, not me. I don't know your weird little plans. He and I aren't exactly on speaking terms." Crowley defended himself though he thought he might regret the tone he'd taken, if Haniel's creepy smile was anything to go by.

"But then you never would have been as cooperative as you have if you'd known my plans for you all along." Haniel leaned forward, both feet now planted on the floor and his arms resting on his knees, "Just between us, I've found several ancient spells over the past few centuries and one of them is sure-fire key to opening hell up."

"Why would you want to do that?" Crowley raised an eyebrow, "Demons are awful creatures to deal with."

"I'm well aware," The ex-angel chuckled, "But you don't need to fret over the whys, you just need to know about the hows. The recipe calls for a bit of demonic assistance as well as angelic, you and Zeruch will be my helpers in this, sound fair?"

"What do I get out of it?"

"Ah, not so stupid." Haniel angled a finger the demon's way to briefly point at him before dropping his hand again, "You get to join myself and Azazel at the top, run your own part of the show. We'll need more than one demon pushing the other demons around, won't we?"

"So I get a definite position of power assuming I can help open the gates?" Crowley was liking the sound of it though he didn't trust the deal, it sounded way too good to be true and Haniel was as bad as any demons when it came to backstabbing.

"Exactly."

A moment of thinking before he stuck his hand out, "You have yourself a deal, sweetheart."

Haniel only smiled in return, firmly shaking the extended hand with a surprisingly painful grip. "Glad to have you on board."


	20. Chapter 20

" _Alright, so we're going to head over there and surprise him, no lame phone calls this year." Dean insisted, smiling at Sam who only nodded in agreement._

" _Right, what do you think, baseball game?"_

" _Nah, he's too old for that. I bet he'd be happy with lunch or something." Dean pondered, running his hand over his chin._

" _Well..." Sam mimicked the pose, they definitely looked like brothers, "How about we get him a gift and just stay for the day?"_

" _Sounds good, he might not want to go out anyway." Dean agreed and they both made notes in their phone calendars._

" _What are you talking about?" Castiel tilted his head in slight confusion, blue eyes narrowed with his curiosity. It was a look Dean would always love._

" _Father's day," Sam announced, "What are you guys gonna do?"_

_Gabriel's expression soured a little, "Nothing. We don't do anything on Father's day."_

" _Well I didn't even really know there_ was _one." Castiel looked concerned, glancing at Gabriel then back at the Winchester brothers, "What do you usually do?"_

" _Something he would think is special." Dean piped up, "Something he wouldn't see coming."_

" _Well He wouldn't see us celebrating it coming," Castiel smiled, "We should do something for Him, what do you think Gabriel?" He looked to where his brother should have been standing only to see a retreating back into the living room. "Gabe?" His concern grew a bit more before he looked at Dean and Sam, "I'll get him, be right back."_

" _Alright." Sam was clearly about to go do the same, figured he'd leave this to immediate family to solve. It seemed like one of those types of arguments anyway._

" _Gabriel?" Castiel walked over to the couch where his brother was brooding and angry. "What's wrong?"_

" _Why should we celebrate anything for Him?" He snapped, "He abandoned us! He wasn't watching when who or whatever it was destroyed heaven, He-"_

" _Hold on, you weren't even there, you'd already run down here."_

" _And the fact that He let me only furthers my argument!" Gabriel shouted, throwing his arms in the air dramatically. Castiel hadn't ever really seen his brother this pissed off, it was a little weird, normally he was so light hearted (if not a little more serious after being with Sam so long)._

" _Then why are you upset if you weren't there to feel the same thing we all did?"_

" _Because... because I wasn't there... Because I know I couldn't have made a difference but I feel like maybe yeah, I could have, you know?" Gabriel lowered his head and ran a hand down his face. "I don't know..."_

" _Sounds like you're more upset with yourself; you let a silly thing like our Father being neglectful affect you into leaving when you think you should have stayed. Am I close?" Castiel leaned over so Gabriel could see his face._

" _...Yeah." Gabriel nodded sadly though his somber expression was cut short when Castiel nuzzled him, the stubble on his cheeks scratching slightly. "Ah! Hey, you weirdo!"_

" _Well celebrate then!" Castiel insisted, "We'll get the others and throw him a surprise party, what do you say?"_

_Another moment of silence passed before Gabriel nodded, "Yeah, why not? Alright, we'll surprise the hell out of him!"_

_And so they planned it. Anna had been contacted and told to get Chuck to Castiel and Dean's residence at a certain time while the others, Castiel, Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, and Balthazar all hurried around and made different gifts. Because really, who buys their dad stuff on the first celebrated Father's day? You make that shit._

_As Chuck approached the house with Anna, her excitement barely contained, he did his best to pretend he had no idea what was going. He knew what day it was and Anna's behaviour was enough of a giveaway without having to know that the other angels were inside Castiel's home. Chuck didn't have his omni-presence or all-knowing abilities at that time, his strength still completely gone, but that didn't make him retarded._

_Anna opened the door and let Chuck in first, following with a silent but hyper expression on her face, she expected all of them to jump out and scream surprise, and they did. However half of them were covered in flour (Raphael, Gabriel, and half of Castiel), Balthazar had glue in his hair with construction paper stuck firmly to it (a note with 'I suck' in what appeared to be Gabriel's writing), and Michael was glittering like a fairy. Clearly things hadn't gone as planned; the place was a complete mess and from the look of it nothing had actually gotten done. "HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!" They shouted, despite looking like they might want to punch each other in the head (Castiel particularly)._

_Chuck, to his credit, looked completely surprised, "Oh my god!" he thought the phrase was funny, "You guys! I can't believe this!" His acting was good, no one had any idea he was faking it. One point for the Chuckster._

_Castiel produced something that looked like hell half baked in a pie dish while the others lifted up a large construction paper sign that had big cut out letters reading 'We love you', each of them had signed it and written a note or two, the entire thing decorated in glitter and other such things. Chuck smiled warmly and went to hug them, despite the crud they were covered in. When he reached Castiel he looked down at the dish, "What's this?"_

" _Apple pie." Castiel said proudly, "It's mom's recipe." He'd taken to calling Mary 'mom' after the wedding and no one was able to get over how freaking cute it was. Chuck vaguely recalled the story where Castiel first attempted to make it, apparently despite the appearance it tasted amazing, he just hoped that was still the case without Mary Winchester helping him._

" _Thank you, all of you." He was honestly touched by it, and they weren't done there._

_A few activities and games later, Chuck had a chance to look at the construction paper sign. Michael had written something very 'Michael', "I hope to make you proud." Raphael drew a small picture instead, one of them hugging. It looked awful but he didn't say anything. Balthazar had left it fairly simple as well, apparently not sure of what to say. "I think letting heaven fall apart was one of the best and worst things that could have happened. So for the bad things, I assume you suffered as well. For the good, I thank you." By now Anna had gotten to it as well, a short letter written to him in her script-like handwriting._

" _Chuck, we've been partners for a while now and even though a lot has changed and I know things I hadn't before, I just wanted to tell you that you're still the same annoying guy you were when I first met you. I hope this doesn't disappoint you and instead makes you glad that you could make friends with your creations as well. I'd say it says something strong about your character. The world might expect everything from you but I don't, I know you can do things and I know you're limited just like the rest of us. I love you, I respect you, I hope we'll always have a closer relationship than we did back in heaven."_

_Chuck smiled sadly at that, he hoped so too. His eyes shifted to Castiel's next, something about that little firecracker was too endearing to ignore but you always kind of wanted to leave his speeches for last._

" _Father I am truly grateful for all that you've given me though I have to say you're a bit of a dork, I wasn't expecting that. Somehow you picture your dad as the biggest, scariest, toughest son of a bitch there is. Then I met you at Mrs. Milton's training camp, I never saw it coming, even when you showed up in the arena while we were watching Balthazar's fight again Raphael I didn't see it coming. I couldn't have imagined you'd show up as often as you did, but you supported us, I'm grateful. I wish I knew more about why you did things and didn't do others, but I will do as I have always done, I trust you."_

_He nodded and looked at Gabriel's simple note, just a few words, "I'm sorry." Chuck wasn't quite sure why but it was sad to see that brief statement. Something so down coming from one of his most upbeat children. He stood and walked over to the joking archangel, knelt down and wrapped his arms around him in a hug._

_Gabriel was completely silent then, staring straight ahead as tears rushed to his eyes._

" _You have nothing to be sorry for." Chuck whispered and kissed the side of his head, squeezing him tightly._

_Gabriel reached up and dug his fingers into the softness of Chuck's t-shirt, burying his face into his shoulder. "Thanks, dad."_

_Castiel smiled brightly, not looking toward the door as he heard it open and felt the late evening breeze. "Whoa" Dean's voice exclaimed as he approached his angel, "Cas, you look like crap."_

" _Shut up, human." Castiel retorted, not taking his eyes off his family._

" _Oh! Racist!" Dean replied, remembering the first time they'd had that exchange all those years ago at their first training camp._

" _And if I am?" Castiel turned and smiled, leaning up and kissing his husband. It had been a great day._

* * *

Meeting room again. Michael and Bela had walked in first, each receiving the hugs they might have expected from their friends and family, Raphael and Annie next. "So what's the news?" Castiel asked before Sam could think to do so.

"Long story short?" Michael sighed, "Not too good. Things are rough for both sides right now and it's getting worse. A lot of angels are caught with those collars though the humans aren't able to get it on them very often so in the big scheme of things I'd say only a handful of angels are suffering. Of course, Haniel's cause is big for the armies of heaven, they're fighting non-stop and they don't need to rest. While they aren't doing that well, what with the anti-angel weapons flying around, they're still winning. Humankind is doomed; they don't stand a chance against the angels."

Castiel tapped his fingers on the table anxiously, he'd thought as much when Capitol Hill had been taken down. The first time they recovered from that attack and managed to organize their thoughts it had nagged at the back of his head, the next big threat wouldn't be against angels this time, men would be in danger. And he wasn't wrong, humans were the target and they were losing. "Any news on just how bad it is?" Sam asked next, his thoughtful gaze staying on the archangels staring back at him.

"You aren't going to like that answer," Annie muttered, sharing a glance with Bela.

"It's far worse than we had thought," Bela looked back at Sam, distress clear in her eyes. "They're getting ready for a final battle, all or nothing. Haniel's taken out a lot of the world's leaders and word is that he intends to destroy countries. Angels are strong, they're capable of mass destruction easily, we all already know this."

They nodded, the room a bitter kind of silence until Jet spoke up, "Where?"

"It'll be breaking out along the east coast of North America, Haniel wants us to be able to attend I think." Raphael said sombrely, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Nuts..." Garth leaned forward and looked down at the map Sam had spread out, "So... just the east coast? That's kind of huge."

"If I had to guess, I'd say New York." Dean added, all eyes shifting toward him.

"Why?" Sam asked after a moment of trying to figure out Dean's logic.

"Because that's where everything happens, haven't you seen the movies?" Dean rolled his eyes his brother's direction, Sam making a face at him.

"Haniel has a thing against symbols, I'd bet he'll probably destroy the statue of liberty during this." Lucifer's voice came up unexpectedly; he'd joined them at some point during the questions. Michael's gaze snapped toward him, steel eyes gauging him seriously. Raphael pointed at him outright, looking at the others in the room.

"Why is he here?"

"Well," Anna shrugged, "Chuck sent him along."

Michael stared quietly, Chuck had sent Lucifer?  _God_  trusted him? That was enough for Michael, he walked across the room, not missing the way Lucifer stepped back and even flinched slightly. "It's alright," he spoke gently with a small smile, "If our Father believes in you then so do I, welcome home, Lucifer." He wrapped his brother in a hug and smiled wider when he felt it returned, Lucifer's head resting against Michael's. Michael was the oldest, they had all known it but now it was much more obvious than it had been moments before.

"Thank you." Lucifer whispered, it couldn't have been easy joining the Freedom Fighters after everything he'd done to Sam ten years ago but people were willing to look past it if the higher ups were. That didn't mean awful things weren't said to him.

Raphael harrumphed for a moment but relaxed, Michael was usually right about these kinds of things and he couldn't hold a grudge against Lucifer forever. So he went and joined them in the hug, smiling slightly as well, "I'll let you get off easy, this time."

Sam frowned deeply but didn't say anything about it, "Anyway," he spoke firmly, steering the conversation back to where it was supposed to be, "Lucifer has a point, Haniel hates our symbols and Lady Liberty seems like a pretty big target when you think about it. We'll keep our eyes open over there as the central point, but I need to ask everyone something." All eyes were on Sam then, his tall form seemed even bigger as he looked at them all from the head of the table, "Are you ready to fight?"

"So we're joining the big fights?" Garth grinned, "Is that what that question means? Finally! Hell yeah!"

"I guess that's a yes." Balthazar chuckled.

"You know it, Sammy." Jet smirked, his gaze quickly glancing toward Dean who frowned at him.

"Only I get to call him Sammy, man."

"Alright, big bro has spoken, won't do it again." Jet knew he'd be called on it but that didn't make it any less fun while it lasted. He'd of course show his respect for what Dean and Castiel had done by stopping the pet name thing, though.

"I can't fight without Chuck," Anna shook her head; "I'll wait here."

"I'm with her," Lucifer added, "Kind of useless here."

Sam looked over at Rochel, who had been fairly quiet as he stood next to Camael. It had been interesting meeting the fair lover of one of their enemies, a sad love story to be sure. Rochel had grown since he'd fallen, his trust had dwindled and he was a bit more cynical than he used to be. Camael had assured them that Rochel was different back in heaven, while he had been quite the hot head in his younger days he'd always yearned to get the same attention that humans received from heaven. Angels were meant to serve humans, meant to bow down and love them. Rochel wanted to be loved more than anything but he'd hidden that beneath a layer of stubbornness and arrogance. Until he met Zeruch. He'd softened up, the Power angel had gotten under his skin first then right into him, they had kept it secret though to anyone who knew Rochel could see the change in him.

The way Rochel was acting now was the way he used to, the hard-edged male who seemed more like a snapping-turtle than a sweetheart. He was without the person who had loved him for too long, he'd gone right back to how he was, maybe a bit more bitter. Who doesn't grow more distant after thinking the love of their life is dead?

"Rochel?" Sam asked after a moment, "What about you?"

Rochel looked up at the group's apparent leader before looking down at the map, "It seems odd, doesn't it? I don't think Haniel will put all his effort into that fight, he won't see a reason to. I won't be going; the odds of Zeruch seeing me even if he  _is_  there are slim. I'll more than likely be caught in the crossfire."

"He's right," Dean agreed, "No one's saying Haniel will definitely be there. If he is, we'll call Anna and she can fly Rochel over since he doesn't have his wings anymore. But until then I say leave the non-fighters here."

Sam nodded, "Alright, sounds like a plan."

"Sam," Charlie opened the door, her eyes a bit bigger as she glanced around the room, feeling like she'd just walked in on something huge. "I just found out where Haniel's signal came from."

"And?"

"Brooklyn, in New York."

Jet slammed his fist down, "Oh for fuck's sake!" He cursed as he bolted from the room, "I'm going ahead, call me when you're on your way." He shouted over his shoulder, Camael already on his tail.

"Jet!" Sam called after him, "Where are you going?"

"I have family there." Jet stopped and looked at him, "It's important."

"Go." Dean nodded, "We'll call you later if something comes up. And you let us know if anything happens, alright?"

"Will do." Jet smirked at him and after that he was gone.

"Alright, the rest of us will get ready, I'll tell the other Freedom Fighters what's going on." Sam looked over all of them seriously, "I'd suggest getting some rest, the next little while is going to make the last world tournament look like a kid's game."

"Well darn." Garth laughed slightly, "And here I thought that tournament was pretty crazy already," he looked up at Balthazar, "Didn't we almost die or something? We're screwed."

"Real helpful," Balthazar pat him on the head.

"I try."


	21. Chapter 21

" _ZERUCH!" Rochel screamed as heaven vanished from his sight, the last sad smile permanently engraved in his brain. "No! Zeruch no!" Tears burned his eyes and blurred his vision, everything was so wrong, they were never supposed to descend this way, no one was meant to. The special difference between the two worlds was never meant to be crossed through without proper care and the rightful gateway to earth hadn't been opened for him. All of the added friction of the fall and acceleration was starting to rip at everything, he watched through the haze as a fire caught his clothing and the ends of his hair. Putting two and two together he knew that the burning in his wings could only be the same thing._

_The fall was terrifying and took forever, he was sure he looked like a flaming meteor by the time the ground was rushing up to meet him though he was having a hard time thinking straight at all. His mind was a flurry of thought, of fears, pain and a million other things he couldn't focus on. Zeruch was caught, Zeruch would be put to death and he'd never see him again. His heart was pounding harder and harder in his chest, drowning out his screams, drowning out the desperate gasping for air and pathetic gargled sounds as he failed to inhale enough._

_Then impact. He felt the earth give out beneath him, felt everything break and scatter. He lost any breath he'd managed to take, eyes opened wide and staring straight ahead, mouth gaping and no sound able to escape him. His entire body was still, very, very still. His mind didn't register for what could have been minutes or hours, he couldn't be sure._

_The fires hadn't stopped; his long hair that used to drag along the floor behind had gotten to shoulder length. He moved them, smacking it out, the burning and agony in his wings was so strong that he couldn't even feel it anymore; his entire body was in shock and severe pain. As he sat up he could feel everything in his back was out of place, the bones and most of the muscle tissue at the base of his wings, he could feel it, was dislocated and torn._

'They'll find me... Someone will notice I'm not dead, that my grace and wings are intact, they'll follow the signs of my grace. I have to move. I have to go.' _He thought desperately as he looked back at the mangled wings unhinged on his back but still attached somehow. He wasn't sure how he had the presence of mind to do what he did, but that didn't make it any less necessary. He reached around behind himself and started pulling, yanking and tearing the remaining muscle and flesh until the first wing was ground off. Rochel wasn't sure if the dying animal sound was him or something nearby that got caught in his way during the crash landing, either way he wasn't finished yet._

_He gasped and groaned pathetically as he caught the other wing, some feeling starting to return as the entire situation settled in. "No, no, no..." he whined, mentally begging that he wouldn't be so unfortunate as to feel this next one. But he was. Rochel screeched, he couldn't help it as he wrenched the bone around, that one apparently was still connected, though enough twisting had it free. He could feel every little bit of tearing, every snap of skin and muscle tissue, the crunch of his bones nearly made him gag. He hit the dirt several times during the process until he finally managed to rip the thing from his back, dropping it on top of the other. "Oh god..." he gasped and wretched, every part of his body aching and nearly crying out on its own. "Oh my god..." He wasn't done yet. He knew he wasn't done yet, but that didn't mean he could finish._

_Rochel collapsed and remained motionless in his crater, his consciousness fading rapidly._

_A man stared down into the hole with sick amusement; he watched the whole thing play out after the thundering collision with the ground. A wicked smile crossed his lips as he called someone over to retrieve the wreckage survivor._

* * *

Jet dropped down ahead of time, landing just outside the place he'd called home so many times. He stared around at the city surrounding him; the neighbourhood had never been a good one but the way it looked now... Well it was fairly clear that Haniel had been hanging around here, there were angels perched on top of buildings staring down at him, watching him like he was their prey. Another angel or two fluttered in and landed, also watching. He couldn't deal with them, not yet.

He tried the door, it was stuck. He stepped back and ran at it, barging it right off its hinges. Camael in the meantime kept an eye on the angelic company above them. Jet looked around and so no signs of life but also no signs of death, so far so good. Next stop was the underground bunker, it was capable of sustaining life for a few years, Jet had made sure of it before he left. Of course he'd also only told them to use it if it was absolutely necessary. Clearly it had been necessary.

"Hey," he tapped several times on the door, "Open up, it's Jet!"

That was all he needed to say until the thing cracked open, a young teen about fifteen peering up at him. "JET!" She cried and leapt out, he caught her and gave her quick hug, "Oh my god it's you!"

"Hey Bee, how are you guys doing?" He asked softly, not letting her see the relief on his face though she could undoubtedly feel it in the way he held her closer and tighter.

"We're alright," She smiled, her name was Beatrix but Jet always called her Bee because it was easier, for everyone, not just him. "The kids are scared."

"Obviously." Jet chuckled, "Get 'em up here, we're going to get you to a safer place, alright?"

"Right." She kissed his cheek and hopped inside, sliding down the ladder and running to tell the others.

Camael smiled and shook his head; it was unbelievable the kind of guy Jet was. He was surprised the first day they'd met and he was still shocked. Jet had gathered different orphans from around the city and took care of them, gave them a house to live in together, gave them food and generally played the role of their big brother or father, considering how young they were now. Back when they'd met those fifteen years ago Jet had been barely out of high school himself so it wasn't so hard to see 'big brother' however now that Jet was in his late thirties 'father' was probably more appropriate. Not that he ever let them call him anything other than Jet, he didn't want the label 'dad' tacked on to him though he smiled every time one of them told him that's how they saw him, that he was the dad they never had.

As the kids grew up Jet let them go whenever they wanted though there was always a place for them if they needed it. Of course, along the way he'd still pick up more orphans as he came across them, from his count the youngest now would be about five years old.

Jet expected to see about six youths hop out except he hadn't taken into account the state of the city. Approximately twenty new faces greeted him and he stood gawking silently. "Oh crap." He whipped out his phone and called home base, waiting as patiently as he could until Sam picked up.

" _Hello, Jet? What's going on?"_

"Well Brooklyn looks like Haniel and the angels are acting like death pigeons, lurking around and doing creepy weird shit. In the meantime, though, I could use some help." Jet smiled at the kids with a sort of 'I got this totally under control' expression. Not that he really did but he figured it was good enough.

After a little while the cavalry arrived. Of course that didn't make their operation easier, a large group of angels had gathered to watch though none did anything, for the moment at least. "Alright," Jet looked at them all, "Fly these kids back to base, Camael and I will cover you." They nodded in return and before anyone knew what was happening there was a massive flash of wings and everyone lifted off. But they weren't the only ones. The angels sitting back and watching started to fly as well, going straight for the throats of their 'traitorous' brothers and sisters.

Jet and Camael burst into action then too, the angels didn't stand a chance, not really. Camael was stronger than a lot of them (maybe not put together) and teamed up with a human put them on a level higher than the other angels could hope to reach. That being said, there was an army on the horizon, the sky was darkening with it. Jet's eyes widened, his heart nearly stopping at the sight. "Camael buddy, you seeing this?"

Camael swallowed dryly and nodded, "That's Haniel's army, they're on their way here."

Jet shook his head, "Fuck! Seriously?!" He caught one of the falling angels by the collar and pulled them closer, their mind swirling with truths of their horrible deeds, the staff of judgement had done a number on them. "You, hey!"Jet shook him harshly, "Is Haniel coming?"

The angel's eyes were swirling around for a moment but another firm shake had his attention on Jet, "Haniel?"

"Is he  _coming_? Is he in that horde?" Jet pointed toward the looming shadow that was only getting closer. And fast.

"No," The angel put his hand to his face, "No, no Haniel won't be here for a little while."

"Where is he?" Camael asked, his brow furrowing deeply.

"He's getting the gates ready."

That was the last thing they heard before a thunderous clap echoed over the entire city and drowned out anything else. Jet's eyes snapped back up and he realized that they were going to be in the messiest battle he'd ever taken part in. He dropped the confused enemy and looked to the other horizon, smiling in relief; their rescue team had gotten away easily enough, though they seemed to be taking a roundabout way back. Jet squinted a moment and realized something very important, the human army was on its way too.

Camael took a nose dive, a very sudden and stressful move that nearly knocked the human from his back, nearly. Jet looked up to see a long tunnel of wings and bodies hurtling toward them, they weren't allies and they were on the battle ground, that meant war. Another loud boom echoed over and before they knew it the humans had attacked, their anti-angel weaponry had been blown up to the biggest size they could muster. The air screeched as fighter jets plowed their way through the angelic ranks but Jet didn't get a chance to see it all, Camael was frantically avoiding the onslaught of angels on his tail.

Jet pulled out his phone and dialled Sam's number, ducking his head and narrowly avoided losing it. "Watch it!" He called back to the angel that was slinging projectiles.

" _Jet?"_

"Sam where the fuck are you guys? This shit's starting and we're in the middle of it." Jet didn't sound at all calm though he wasn't scared either, just highly anxious.

" _Well your rescue team is almost back and once they are we'll be heading out there. Do you need an advance team?"_

"It would be  _really_  nice, but you know, don't trouble yourself or anything." Jet snapped sarcastically, "Send the goddamn archangels or Garth or something!"

" _They're on their way."_

Jet hung up and shoved the phone into his pocket again, "Do you need an advance team! What kind of dumb ass question is that?"

Camael chuckled and spun around, flying backward with momentum as he spun his staff and sent a stream of energy into their attackers, most of which had gotten distracted with the human army. The humans were a force to be reckoned with, for now anyway, but they didn't stand a chance in a drawn out fight. Angels don't eat or sleep.

"Shit," Jet sighed heavily as they managed to make it mostly in the clear, "This is messed up."

"Never been in a war before?" Camael chided.

"An actual war with huge ass explosions and the fate of the world in the balance kind of crap? No, can't say that I have. You?" Jet sneered at his angel.

"Once, I believe."

"That long ago that you forgot or are you just getting old?"

"I could drop you, you know."


	22. Chapter 22

"Move out, move out, move out!" The commotion was intense back at Freedom Fighters' HQ, secondary commanders were shouting orders to the mobilizing units all over the place, angels taking flight, the human ground units hitching rides, the rest packing into armoured vehicles and heading out as well. It wasn't going to be easy for any of them, many believing they weren't going to make it. And it was true, a lot of them weren't going to, but that's part of the fight, dying for what you believe in.

Sam sent the advanced team Jet's way, Michael, Bela, Raphael, Annie, Garth and Balthazar. Dean frowned and looked at him, "Cas and I can help, we aren't useless."

"I know," Sam looked at him, "But right now I don't think it'd be smart to send you in, the ground units are only the humans right now and you guys could wipe the floor with them no problem. That's not what we're trying to do here. We need to stop the angels and the anti-angel weapons before any real damage is done-"

"Sam!" Charlie shouted from above them on a landing, catching their attention easily. "Just got a communication signal from Michael,"

Sam nodded and quickly made his way up there, "Connect it."

" _Sam,"_  Michael's voice sounded a little distressed, they must have only been fighting for a few minutes, what could have caused that?  _"Got some info you might want to know about before heading down here,"_

"What is it?"

" _The anti-angel weapons aren't working on Haniel's angels, they work on us though."_ There were a few hectic moments over the audio, from what it sounded like Michael had gotten into a bit of a skirmish,  _"We aren't going to be of much help out here if this keeps up. Someone needs to disable those things. How far off are the ground units?"_

"Well they just moved out," Sam glanced over at Dean, "But I can bring in some help."

" _Good. We need those things taken out. They aren't doing the human side much good other than shooting down their helping hand."_  Michael was irate, it was fairly clear in his voice. _"Though on the bright side, humans bonded with angels is much stronger than the individual angels, we're kicking some ass."_

" _Except when there's such a huge number of angels,"_  Bela's voice sounded closer than Michael's, she must have been the one to set up the communication.

"How many humans are there?" Dean dared to ask.

" _Thousands so far, maybe ten thousand at the moment."_ Michael answered,  _"But I think this is just the start of it, they're going to be saving the other portions of their armies for when this part gets tired."_

"Well it is the entire world that's attacking," Sam muttered anxiously, he knew full well that there were going to be much more than ten thousand men out there. Maybe not everyone in the world was a fighter but the combined number of people in each of the world's armies (assuming they all cooperated, he had no idea if they did) would be overwhelming. "Alright, hold tight." Sam turned toward Dean, "You think you two could handle the anti-angel weapons?"

"Uh," Dean glanced to his side as if Castiel were there, except he knew that his angel was getting ready alongside Gabriel elsewhere, it was just a habit to look toward his partner, "Well I guess so, I mean I was just saying that we could be of use but... Remember Cas got collared already? What if that happens again?"

"Then stay here," Sam snapped, "Dean, we're all going to be in danger out there, alright? We need someone to break those things and if you won't then I will." He was about to push past his brother when Dean's hand pressed against his chest firmly to stop him.

"Alright," Dean said firmly, "We'll do it."

"Thank you."

Dean could see that Sam was stressed out, of course he was. This was much bigger than he'd ever expected it to be, when he first made the freedom fighters as a teenager he hadn't expected any of this to come from it. But here he was, commanding an army to go and stop the biggest war the world had ever seen. "Think this counts as World War III?" Dean mused.

"Pfft," Sam rolled his eyes as they hurried down the halls to where their angels were suiting up, "Beats me, shouldn't it be something a little bigger? I mean angels are involved here."

"Maybe..." Dean pondered for a second, "Ah well, someone more clever will come up with a name for it."

Castiel and Gabriel looked up when the Winchester brothers entered the room, both strapping on the pieces of armour that they knew they'd need, Rochel was there helping them along. "Dean," Castiel tilted his head slightly, "You look determined, what is it?"

"You and I have a mission." Dean smirked, taking a quick glance over Castiel's battle-ready form. "You look good."

Castiel walked up to him and pinched his cheek lightly, "I always look good."

"My mistake." Dean chuckled, "Come on, we're taking out the anti-angel stuff."

"Sounds like it's important." Castiel looked over to Sam who nodded in reply.

"It is, Gabe, you and I are flying them there. Ready?"

"You know I am," the archangel looked at Rochel and smiled, "Thanks, I think Cas and I are a little rusty with the armour."

Rochel's smile was there and gone again within a few seconds, "No less than me, but I find it difficult to forget how to put it on." His eyes flashed with something that Castiel recognized as memory and regret.

The dark haired angel squeezed his brother's shoulder firmly, "You'll be reunited, I promise."

Rochel nodded and ran a hand along Castiel's armoured shoulder, "You should be going."

Gabriel chuckled, "Making a human to angel ladder or something? I'm carrying all of you at once, this isn't going to be very easy."

"Just shut up and do it." Dean demanded, not liking the idea that any angel other than Castiel would carry him but he moved to Gabriel's side none the less, Castiel joining him in silence, his mind clearly on his the thought of his missing wing and how useless he felt. No one could say anything to him about it, so they didn't.

Once they were ready to go they were off, Dean's grip like a vice as he did his best not to look down. Castiel hung around Dean's torso, his eyes open as he watched the world flash by below them, his wings wriggling inside him, wishing they could be set free to do the same. But now was not the time to dwell on that, he'd been this way for ten years, he should be used to it by now, or so he told himself. He was an angel, his lifespan was almost eternal, ten years was nothing to him but he tried not to think about that either.

Soon the view below became hostile and the sounds of the battle raging echoed in their ears. Sam knew that most of the freedom fighters would be joining the fray very, very shortly. But Dean and Castiel were needed  _now_  and that would have to be enough. There was almost too much going on, loud screeching shattering the ear drums of everyone in the vicinity as angels charged forward, their swords and other weapons drawn. Magic flew and crashed into anything and everything. The sights, the sounds, and the smell of battles raging all around them was like a blast from the past for the four brothers, hands tightening subtly as a sense of fear set in. But it was the right kind of fear, the right kind of anxious. They would not run in thinking they were capable of anything, they knew what they had to lose and they kne they could lose it as easily as blinking.

"Ready?" Sam shouted from Gabriel's other side, looking at Dean firmly.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Dean opened his eyes again and glared down at the war below, it was hell on earth without the actual fire and brimstone.

With that Gabriel swooped down and let them off before carrying Sam away, they were present now; they may as well stay and fight. The two tore off into the heat of it, the motion of Gabriel's wings almost like thunder in the air.

Castiel looked at Dean and no words needed to be said as they bolted forward, their bond flaring up and reconnecting the way it used to. They'd never needed the intensity of the connection, the full potential of it, unless they were in a fight. It had been ten years but it still worked just as fluently. Castiel's eyes flashed white; his hand lifting toward the humans in his path, all of their attention had been caught.

" _I believe we told you to stop using those."_  Castiel growled out, his angelic voice breaking through and nearly slamming into the nearby soldiers' ears.

Sam looked down as he watched bit by bit the anti-angel weapons were being disarmed and destroyed, nothing stood a chance against Dean and Castiel, he could see it from his position high above the ground forces. The quick flashes of light and energy were intense and almost too difficult to watch at times, he was glad to finally see his brother back in action.

"SAM!" Jet's voice cracked his concentration and he had to look up to see the vibrant man waving from Camael's shoulders. "Took you long enough!"

"You left early, Jet." Sam warned, "And you might've even started this before it was actually going to happen."

"It was going to happen anyway," Jet frowned, "And if you ask me, it was worth it."

Sam thought about the kids, possibly all orphaned now, and nodded, "Fair enough. Alright, where are Michael, Raphael, and Balthazar at?"

"They're all staying up here for the time being," Jet motioned to different areas of the aerial mess, "Taking on angels while the weapons down below get taken out."

"Dean's working on it. In the meantime, I want everyone else working together; it'll be more effective if we're an organized group. Let's find them." Sam and Gabriel hurtled through the air toward the other archangels, plus Balthazar.

* * *

Michael caught one angel in the face easily and used him as a battering ram for the others, "Are you all retarded?!" he shouted in anger, Bela's expression matching his perfectly, "You were given everything when no one had to give it to you and you still throw it away! You have no idea what you had!" He was just shouting things in the middle of the fight, not that any one angel got the full story, each received a piece as he beat them down. Michael was no longer showing any mercy, he was their older brother and it was about time he put his foot down.

Raphael dashed past him, Annie clinging to his back as they cracked skulls and generally took on the onslaught without so much as a hesitant glance. None of them knew what was going to happen in this fight, this horrible battle that was shaking the earth below and causing a storm in the sky above. Haniel hadn't appeared yet and they weren't sure he was going to, however that didn't matter. What mattered was that they do their part and hopefully it made enough of a difference in the long run.

The flashes of light below and the sudden crushing feeling around them made Michael grin, "Castiel's in the game."

Raphael returned the smile and shouted out a battle cry in enochian, Michael joining in the shout and together they attacked, a tremendous force in their wake.

* * *

Gabriel's ears were burning; he would never forget the archangels' battle cry. "Over there!" He shouted as his wings took him closer, he knew where they were, he could feel them, sense them. Sam's grip was firm and never wavering as he tucked in close to Gabriel. The archangel's only weakness in this fight was the human on his back, though Sam was also his greatest strength. Two sided swords were always a risky play.


	23. Chapter 23

Everything seemed to blur together in those moments, Sam could hear so many voices screaming, shouting, some angry, some in pain. Every once in a while the angelic battle cry would shatter everything; the reply would only be louder when the archangels would repeat their earlier outcry. Gabriel continued to fly through the mess of angelic bodies and waves of holy fire and attacks, obviously his brothers were moving and they were moving fast, he was getting closer, he could feel it in the strength of the attacks hurtling around them. It was evident in the way the archangels attacked, Michael's holy sword of light wasn't something you could mistake when it came screaming down on an opponent, there was a follow-up wave of energy that blasted the surrounding opponents a few feet back. Raphael was no slouch despite being known as a healer in heaven; Gabriel could feel the weight of his holy-energy spear as it swung heavily through the air. It was insanity in the skies as the Freedom Fighter angels took on the ranks of heaven's army, wings beating against wings, friendly fire taking down allies left and right, nothing made sense in that mess.

"They're close." Gabriel muttered anxiously, eyes scanning the horizon though all he could see were large flashes of light. There were so many angels present, so many Powers in their ranks ready to descend while the first wave was already swarming over the human race. Gabriel looked up when he heard a familiar voice and watched as Balthazar crashed through the air, barely recovering before swooping back up. "Garth! Balthazar!" He shouted, flying up after them, Sam holding tightly, Jet and Camael right on his tail.

The sound that came out of Garth's mouth could have been considered a battle-ready holler but it sounded ridiculous, like everything he ever said. Balthazar slammed another angel down, one that Sam assumed had been the culprit for knocking them back in the first place, "What is it?" Balthazar asked, pale eyes snapping up to gaze at them, the fury of the fight clearly had his blood pumping hard.

"We need to work together, follow us," Sam shouted across the roar of the war around them, it was deafening but Balthazar managed to hear his commanders words, nodding his head obediently and following quickly after Gabriel and Camael, the other two knocking angels aside left and right as they went, clearing a path for the weaker angel in tow. Balthazar wasn't going to complain, he rather enjoyed having to exert himself less than usual.

As they approached Camael's arm was caught and he spun around to face the fight, a staff clashing against a sword violently, each ready to take the other's life. Their eyes met and they both froze, realizing they were on the same team. "Sorry," It was Michael, quickly retreating backward to a less threatening distance.

"Likewise." Camael assured him, both fairly aware of how close they were to seriously injuring one another. Jet glanced up at Bela and grinned, giving her a playful wave as she rolled her eyes in an attempt to show how unimpressed she was. It worked.

"We need to work together." Sam shouted again over the overwhelming noise that surrounded them, getting tired of saying it already. "It's useless if we just flap around in the mess up here."

Gabriel was about to agree when he felt a hand in his wings, gripping the sensitive limb and dragging him down by it, a sharp cry escaping him. Sam tried to hold on though he was flung right off, the attacking angels viciously tearing into his partner and ripping harsher and more anguished shrieks from him for about two seconds. That was when Michael blasted the angel into a few pieces, "Even on earth we're still your superiors," he muttered angrily, quickly catching Gabriel's dazed form. "You okay?"

Hazy eyes flickered open and he nodded, "Yeah- SAM!" he spun about to bolt down when he saw his lover's smirking face, Sam had caught Jet's hand as the vigilante and his angel had swooped to catch him. "Forget about me already?"

Gabriel rolled his eyes and pulled Sam onto his back again, letting Raphael and Balthazar do the part of defending for the moment. "Okay, so we're all here, we're the power houses right? Let's start working these bastards over."

With a resounding agreement from the others they moved in together, still swatting off the enemies, their brothers, as they listened. "We move as a team, try and encourage the others to do so as well. We're no good out numbered and fighting in this mess that's all we are, despite being our own force. Everyone ready?"

"We're beyond ready, Sam." Jet called out after throwing an angel downward mid flight, quite proud of himself for having the strength to do so, Camael a little busy cracking skulls with his staff. The area around them started to shake, the air feeling like it quivered as Camael's staff began to glow.

"Then shall we?" He asked with a determined, glowering look to his eyes.

No one said anything further; an enormous blast wave broke through their enemies' ranks, temporarily creating a path for them to charge forward through. Sam could feel his heart racing, the connection he felt through Gabriel was pounding stronger than ever and though he felt more empowered than he had in his younger years, he still felt like what they were doing was useless. Somewhere in his mind he knew it. Haniel hadn't even shown up to this fight, his presence would be pretty damn obvious if he had. No, he didn't even deem this worthy enough of his presence. He  _knew_  that Sam and the others would show up, that Dean and Castiel would be there. He knew that the world's strongest teams would be fighting against him but he still didn't think it was enough of a worry? Haniel had a strategic mind; he was a genius in planning battle strategies. Sam could see it from there already, even though it looked like a mess in the skies there were angels that had been left out and prepared to take on the attacking freedom fighters. Everything had already been planned out far ahead of time, before Sam even knew they'd do it.

It was aggravating, irritating, enraging, all of the above and more. But all he could do was play along, just let it unfold and hope, or pray that they managed to surprise the angel of joy and destroy his plans in the end. That was a big order and Sam couldn't help but worry that he wouldn't be able to make it a reality. Regardless, like he thought before, all he could do was push forward and keep his fingers crossed.

They hit the opposing force with all their might, the fight escalating faster and faster the harder they pushed.

* * *

The earth shook violently as the battles raged on, Dean hunched forward as he lifted up one of the last anti-angel weapons, Castiel making a delicate swipe across the air in its general direction to slice it in half. They exchanged a glance and nodded to one another before looking up to see how the battleground above was faring. Dean's eyes widened as he tried to take in the sight, the entire sky was blotted out with the heavy beating of wings, a flash of light would destroy the darkness with urgency before either dissipating in the air or crashing into another brother. Dean could feel the thundering weight in Castiel's chest, their connection felt like it was enflamed and swollen, blue eyes alight with holy energy staring and trying to make sense of it all.

The fights had been going on for hours, Dean would have to gauge about 10 at that point, judging by the look of the sunlight that peeked through every now and then. He could see the exhaustion all around them, every angel giving it their all because that's what they believed they needed to do, for a cause he wasn't even sure they understood anymore. An old superior told them that they had been treated wrongly and what would the angels do? Go right back to listening to their orders, feeling a sense of normalcy, of home in it. Only a higher power could order them around though, Haniel had been their leader long ago that the armies would listen to him. The other angels followed suit because they had to or because everyone else seemed to be doing it. Angels weren't the most individualistic types of beings, they needed order, they needed structure to function properly or they felt like they lost their purpose.

Castiel was different, he hadn't always been, Dean remembered the fearful gaze he'd earned, the way Castiel would end up listening to him anyway. It was all so different now, Castiel was used to telling it how it was, to giving others instructions where they'd otherwise be missing them. He was capable of finding order for himself rather than waiting for it, Dean couldn't have been more proud of him. But Castiel was a very special angel; Dean had already come to learn.

The thunderous explosions had not only deafened everyone but had leveled the city. What was New York before was now a mess of ruins and bodies, humans and angels alike. Dean gazed over the land he stood on, seeing the called in armies as they crawled forward in their tanks, dropping mines over top of the angelic assault force that was still airborne, meaning the Freedom Fighter team above would also be in the line of fire. Dean could only keep his hopes up that Sam wouldn't be one of the casualties.

"We've taken care of all the weapons," Castiel shouted, Dean almost didn't hear him. "Let's start incapacitating these troops."

"Sounds like a plan." Dean motioned forward as they started to take on the human forces, Dean feeling so out of his senses as they took out a wave of men in a single blow. Castiel was far too strong for them on a regular day on his own; with Dean at his side they could take angels out in one attack. Humans stood no chance and that was fine, as long as they managed to knock them out without killing them.

It sort of worked. A single motion of Castiel's solo wing was enough pressure to take out nearly 50 men but it meant nothing in comparison to the holy fire raining down on them. Each crushing blow from the ground-assault team on the angels' side was brutal, killing close to 100 or 200, depending on which angel attacked and whether or not it was just a deflected attack from above. Dean was starting to see very quickly that they were fighting a losing battle.

* * *

Rochel watched in silence, as there were brief updates on the war zone he flipped through channels to catch just a little bit more. His eyes were fixed to every little thing that they might show; the images from cameras and footage sent in were good enough to define insanity on their own. There was nothing but rage, regret, and pain displayed on every face. The people weren't winning, Rochel could see that easily enough from the footage shown.

There had been a moment where a flurry of bodies knocked back with a powerful force passed by the camera, a reporter who had wandered in a little too close. Dominating glowing eyes were the first thing to notice and for a moment fear rose in Rochel, what angel could that be? He could feel the strength even over the recording on the TV, every little movement he could hear as it flickered violently over the speakers. The angel came into focus and Rochel understood a lot more, it was Castiel. He'd heard their bond was perfect; that they were meant to be one another but he never imagined it'd do  _this_  to their fighting capabilities. It was astounding, to say the least.

"How's it going?" Lucifer walked in, arms crossed over his chest anxiously. Rochel glanced up at the devil and saw nothing more than another troubled brother, though he'd never been personally wronged so he really couldn't say he saw the evil that was assumedly Lucifer.

"We're not doing what we hoped. There's too many on each side, we can't stop it all." Rochel shook his head and looked back, his heart still pounding as the camera followed Dean and Castiel's movements. Even with only one wing Castiel was a frightening creature, if he were able to maneuver the way he used to there would be no stopping him.

Lucifer watched Rochel's eyes for a moment and moved to drop himself at the light-haired male's side, "I fought them, you know."

Rochel glanced up, slight interest on his face, "Did you? How did that go?"

"It's pretty scary, I must admit." Lucifer's expression faltered, a lump in his throat pestering him as he swallowed thickly. Rochel didn't miss the remorse in his eyes. "I'm the one who crippled him… And he forgave me. I kill so many people, brothers and sisters, almost killed his brother-in-law, and he forgave me."

"Castiel is something else." Rochel nodded quietly, looking back at the screen as the reporter seemed to be running for her life after another earth shaking explosion. Why she was in the war zone in the first place was baffling in itself.

Lucifer nodded, glancing over at Anna as she wandered in, her hand trailing along the doorframe as she anxiously stepped inside the room. She didn't want to see the war, see the bloodshed and know that she couldn't really help. She wasn't a strong angel on her own, she was hardly considered strong with Chuck beside her. Now, even though she was a fighter in her own right, she wasn't allowed to go with. She had to stay back and wait for a call, just in case Haniel showed up with Zeruch, then she'd take Rochel over there. But that didn't seem to be happening, the longer they waited the less likely it was that she'd end up going out there.

"I think the waiting game is the worst part." Lucifer chuckled.

Rochel offered a smile in return before the channel flickered and an urgent message was displayed over the screen, the sudden change catching all of their attention.

" _This just in, it seems that the war is not condensed to the New York City area. Not all of the angels were dispatched in New York as earlier expected, their leader, Haniel, has made several appearances all over the world. There have been reports of mass destruction, whole cities wiped off the map. All world leaders are presumed dead; so far none have risen to say otherwise. It…"_  The woman giving her report looked frightened for a moment and she had to take a moment to compose herself,  _"In what people are calling the Human-Celestial War it appears mankind is on the losing end. Authorities are asking everyone to find the nearest bomb shelter or stay in your basements until further information is given."_

Anna gawked, her eyes wide as she looked over at the other two. Rochel was frozen with a horror stricken expression while Lucifer merely lifted his eyebrows.

"Oh god…" Rochel lowered his face into his hands.

* * *

Another lapse of time that none of them could really comprehend blurred into all the rest, this fight didn't seem like it was ending. The angels weren't tiring as fast as the humans but the humans had numbers to aid them. Dean and Castiel were starting to lose sight of the point of knocking the humans out when their foes would swoop down with reckless abandon and blow the area all to hell. Dean was well aware that they were in a completely different portion of the city than they were originally, he had no idea where Sam was, the cluster-fuck in the sky was impossible to make sense of.

Right place, right time. There was an outcry nearby, a military officer was cursing as he threw his radio receiver to the ground. Dean furrowed his brow, his attention caught for the moment, Castiel easily shielding him with his wing from flying debris as needed. "What is it?" His angel asked roughly, starting to breathe a little heavier now.

Dean motioned toward the officer briefly before jogging to his side, "What happened?" He called from out of the man's sight.

"That blasted angel!" The officer shouted, running a hand down his face tiredly right after, his shoulders slumped. Clearly something was weighing heavily on him. "Haniel's not here. He was never in this fucking war!"

' _He's in it, he just wasn't on the battlefield.'_  Castiel thought as he shared a glance with his partner.

"Where was he?" Dean dared to ask, noticing that he hadn't been seen yet.

"He was on his merry way around the globe, that's where he was! All of the world leaders are dead." The officer turned to look at them, surprised for a moment to see whom he was talking to. How could he not know them? They were legendary and a household name. Of course the surprise faded, his news was above petty things as worrying what Dean Winchester and his partner Castiel were going to do. "In the last 16 hours Haniel has killed more than a billion people and he's not done yet."

Dean's blood felt like it would boil over, his face tightened in a snarl, "Where is he? Where did they last see him?"

"On his way back to the States," The older man shook his head, "He didn't bother attacking here yet because he wanted the world's armies focused away from their homelands. He's…"

"A monster." Dean growled.

"And a lot smarter than the world gave him credit for." Castiel sighed and looked up at the continually thunderous skies, "He knew if he did enough bad the world would inevitably work together to solve the problem or be taken down separately. Once that was accomplished all he had to do was set up this, the assumed final battle, and they would take the bait. They would face him with everything they had, meaning not only would he get to kill off as many as he wanted during the war, he'd also get to go to their defenseless countries and have his way with them."

Dean hated hearing that forsaken angel called a genius but it had to be said once in a while, if they forgot their foe was intelligent a lot of crap would end up happening. "Now what?"

"We're being told to pull back." The officer said as the end of his sentence was drowned out by a sharp cry from above.

Castiel snapped his gaze up but had to cover his ears soon after, moving to shield Dean from the sound wave. All the opposing angels started to shriek in their real voices, shattering eardrums and any kind of glass that was in the vicinity. High above Sam hunched forward, his hands pressing against his ears though it didn't seem to be working, he had the presence of mind to realize that the human side of their teams were having similar problems to him. Michael had pulled Bela from his back and held her against him as he tried to fly above the screeching noise. Balthazar caught Garth as the smaller man slipped right off him, Raphael mimicked Michael's attempt with Annie, and Jet reacted similarly to Sam.

"It's a signal!" Camael shouted, an attempt to get louder than the angelic voices but it wasn't anywhere close to good enough because no one understood, which mean no one was ready when the angels dove toward the earth and the disgruntled human army below.

Dean could hardly see straight let alone understand that the sky wasn't falling on him but he was actually about to be killed by an onslaught of angels. Castiel's eyes widened in those split seconds before the holy energy rained down on them, there was no way he could fight them off, not now. He grabbed Dean and did his best to carry the man while running for his life, one wing propelling them further with powerful downward thrusts.

They made it out of the way of the initial shock, but barely. The ground around them exploded, blew out and some even disintegrated. The blast radius was growing rapidly and Castiel was finding that he wasn't fast enough, not with one wing. As his mind was reverting to begging, pleading that something would save them, they fell. He'd run into a previously destroyed space, a deep rut that had taken him completely by surprise. Castiel landed with a frightened shout, holding Dean close as he felt the rumble of the death wave flash over them, missing them. His heart pounded, he could feel Dean coming around again, more aware of what had just happened, he could feel the loss of life above them. Every soul crying out, all the humans they'd spared burned alive and obliterated without a single thought of remorse.

They remained still; the combined strength of all those angels attacking at once would undoubtedly kill them as well. It'd been a long time since they'd felt that kind of fear, their hands laced together as if it'd be the last time they got the chance to. The awful shaking never stopped, the entire planet seemed to groan under the weight of it, tremors only getting worse as the angels refused to let up. It was starting to seem more likely that the blast wave would find them shallowly tucked away from it all, Castiel was frozen as he imagined their imminent death, fingers tightening around Dean's. He almost didn't hear his husband shouting at him to get up, to get moving.

But he did, they rose and started to climb out, Castiel used the strength of his wing to help scrabble out faster. They looked up and were further horrified by what they saw. The archangels above were all but useless, the human portion of the teams were about as useless as Dean had been. They were right in the center of the shrieking with it happened, it was all Gabriel and the others could do to run away as fast as they could.

The ground around them was littered with body parts of all types, there were no whole bodies to be seen, most had at least a hole right through their side or something like it. The word massacre came to mind but it didn't seem to be strong enough to describe what they were seeing. The sky above had clouded over in the last few minutes of destruction, or so it seemed. Dean couldn't be sure, he hadn't seen the sky once since this whole thing started.

"Dean!" Gabriel shouted, "Cas! Come on!" The archangel swooped down; Castiel caught hold of him as they took off. Gabriel had to hold onto Sam who couldn't keep himself upright any longer which meant Castiel kept a firm grip on his brother with one hand, the other holding onto Dean. That counted as the most 'free flying' Dean had ever been, meaning he was feeling a little more frightened up in the air as they retreated than he had on the ground during the fight.

"Is Sam okay?" Dean decided to get his mind off it, looking up toward Gabriel who had Sam hunched over his back, head lolled limply to the side.

"He's alive, just unconscious." Gabriel announced, flying as fast as he could to escape with the others. Dean looked ahead to see them, all carrying their human companions who had succumbed to the awful noise. Well, all but Jet anyway. That guy refused to pass out, he was still holding onto Camael by his own strength. Dean would have to admit how admirable that was at some point, he figured.

"Where are we going?" Castiel looked up anxiously.

"Home, we need to recuperate." Gabriel replied, "The game's changed a bit, we'll need a better plan than 'fight them' at this point."

Castiel nodded, knowing it must have been a tough call to make, to run away like that. But considering what they'd just witnessed and what they couldn't stop, he figured that it made more sense to run now and come back more prepared later. "We'll figure it out." He muttered, tightening his grip on Dean's hand for reassurance. Dean squeezed back though Castiel wasn't sure if it was because he agreed or if he was scared out of his mind.


	24. Chapter 24

Recuperation was the weakest term that any of them could have used. So many had been injured in the war, none were quite aware of what day it was and most didn't wholly care. The human race was in a frenzy and it wasn't over yet, mere hours after the Freedom Fighters' escape the human body count rose significantly though it was tough to say how much. Gabriel wagered a guess with Michael and between the two they decided that at least half of human kind had been wiped off the map. If that weren't bad enough, the humans who had been in the midst of the angelic outcry at the very end hadn't quite recovered yet. Sam was up and about but his equilibrium was way off, he could hardly stand straight for long periods of time and was prone to nausea. Some couldn't even stand yet.

Jet sat with his arms crossed, his mind rolling thoughts around like a scrambler. Something from the beginning of the last battle stuck out to him,  _"He's getting the gates ready."_

What the hell had that meant? He ran his hand down his face and glanced over at Sam as the brunette stumbled in, catching himself on the nearest wall. "Saw that," Jet mused with a smile, receiving a tired glare for his efforts at humour.

"What're you doing in here?" Sam asked, glancing around the planning room for anyone else but finding only Jet.

"I find it's easier to think in a space that's meant for it." Jet muttered, closing his eyes and leaning back in the office-styled chair. "I heard something before the fight started..."

"Heard what, exactly?" Sam managed to get himself to his chair at the head of the table, falling into it and grunting from the strain. He couldn't believe the effect of that screech, he'd been knocked out originally but he thought that was it, if there was any lasting damage Gabriel would have healed him. Or, that would have been the case if all the angels weren't exhausted. The only angel left with powers was Anna and Sam had her on 'saving the most injured' duty. In the last day and a half she hadn't had the time to get to him yet, and he was fine with that though it was starting to become a bit of a pain.

"I heard one of the angels say that Haniel was 'getting the gates ready' or something." Brown eyes shot up to make contact with Sam's, searching to see if the leader knew anything about it. "And I can't figure out what he was talking about."

"Gates?" Sam could only think of two different gates that Haniel could be preparing, one of which was already destroyed. "The gates of hell." he decidedly muttered and ran a hand down his face, "Shit... I'll go get the angels, see if-"

"Shut up and sit down, dumb ass, I'll go get 'em." Jet walked off, knowing full well that Sam would do it, too, if he was given the chance. "Moron."

"You can stop insulting me!" Sam called after his newest friend, infinitely grateful for Jet's presence. Something just seemed comforting about the other man, despite his initial impression and Jet's general attitude toward others. The definition of 'rough around the edges' would undoubtedly have Jet's picture next to it.

* * *

Castiel curled up next to Dean, the room dark and neither wanting to move. They were the best the world had to offer and they still couldn't stop it, the war, the deaths, any of it. Haniel hadn't even been there, they couldn't even fight him! It was more than frustrating and both were fairly down on themselves. The angels had won; earth was under new management, as it were. All they could do was hide and wait to see what happened next because quite frankly no one was in any shape to really jump out there like they had before.

Dean ran his hands through the damp dark hair of his lover and sighed softly, his disappointment in himself more evident than Castiel's. His angel peered up, an adorable sight in the dark when bright-blue eyes were the only things Dean could really make out. "There is a bright side," Castiel whispered, his voice low and thanks to his usual growl it sounded a bit raspy.

"What could that possibly be?" Dean furrowed his brow, hand trail along Castiel's naked back, still loving that his lover had never faltered in the 'I hate sleeping with clothes on' thing.

"We destroyed all of the anti-angel weapons."

"They can always rebuild them." Dean sighed, "It's going to take a lot longer to re-populate."

"From what I recall we were pretty over-populated as it was." Castiel was trying to find the lighter side though he wasn't doing too great of a job. He lowered his head again, resting it on Dean's chest and trying to shut everything else out. It wasn't working either.

The door creaked open with a light knock, Balthazar peeking inside, "Hey guys, you up?"

"Sort of, what's up?" Dean looked up curiously.

"Sam's asking for the angels and any humans that can be bothered to move, though mostly angels." Balthazar nodded down the hall, "So move your butt, Cassy."

Castiel raised an eyebrow and started to get up, "I've accepted 'Cas' as a suitable nickname, 'Cassy' had better not catch on or I swear there will be rolling heads."

Dean chuckled and rose as well, "I should make a point of calling you that, see if I'm the exception."

"Don't push your luck, pretty boy." Castiel sneered playfully.

Everyone assembled as ordered, Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Lucifer, Anna, Balthazar, Camael, Rochel, and Castiel were all present. Sam scanned them briefly, noting that Jet and Dean were the only other humans at this meeting; it was kind of nice to see that that didn't actually matter. But of course apparently their group was the only one capable of that kind of dynamic. Another thing he noted was that all four archangels were present, it was still great to see they were capable of forgiving one another, even if Sam still had serious issues with Lucifer's presence. The guy was evil incarnate, he was the definition of it, but still his input would be valuable in their current situation.

"Alright, here's the deal, Jet just gave me some information he got during the last battle and it's a little unnerving." Sam's eyes flickered to the table, his hands shifting nervously. It wasn't something he normally did so nearly everybody took note of it.

"What is it?" Dean pushed, knowing his little brother's habits better than anyone's. Well, maybe not better than Castiel's, but close.

"Haniel's opening the gates." Jet folded his arms over his chest, pursing his lips together and watching the expressions on the angels' faces.

"Hell?" Michael snapped and looked to the others' with incredulous eyes, "You've got to be fucking kidding me! Why would he do that? Demons have been locked in hell for millennia, not a single one has roamed the earth, or at least none we know of. What could he possibly gain by doing that? He already controls everything!"

"He's not trying to control or do anything," Camael settled in the chair next to Jet and ran a hand through his smooth hair, noting that he might have to wash it soon as he did so, of course that wasn't a very serious note since his mind was very much so elsewhere. "Haniel has been in charge of the third heaven, which is where the gates to hell reside on our side. He's dealt with the evils and the insanity that it holds for as long as he's been alive. Created to be the angel of joy to counteract the anger and hatred that it would surely bring to him, Haniel was still only as perfect as the being that made him. God isn't as almighty and Omni-good as everyone presumes. There can be no such thing, not if you consider the existence of humanity in the first place. Haniel has lost his mind and honestly needs no more reason to do things than being curious or interested in the outcome. My guess is that Haniel just wants to know what would happen. Somewhere in his mind he just wants it all to end."

"I remember stories of Haniel," Rochel added softly, his pale-coloured eyes glancing to the others as they took in the situation, "Zeruch used to tell me he'd seen Haniel walk away from the gates, had even heard them open and close. Haniel's been dealing down there for a long time, I think."

"Well then he's been crazy longer than anyone else I know," Raphael muttered, angry eyes darting over to his archangel brothers. "We've been letting this go on for that long already? I swear, if heaven ever gets underway again I'm going to pay close attention to anyone in power."

"Well it's too little too late for that," Castiel's brow furrowed, "We need to stop him, and we need to stop him  _now_. Where are the gates? Has he opened them yet?"

"We don't know, and not yet as far as I can tell." Sam straightened up and rubbed his head as the incessant headache returned, a strong piercing sound in his ears. "How are your powers? Anyone able to heal again yet?"

"Pretty close." Michael flexed his hand a little, looking down at it then glancing at the others to see a similar nod from them. "Anna, could you heal Sam? It'd be nice to have him in the game."

She nodded and moved to Sam's side, placing a hand on his shoulder briefly, reaching over and doing the same for Jet. "You're welcome."

Both men smiled and nodded their thanks, Sam looking back to the angels. "Cas just asked so I know he doesn't know, but you guys," his eyes were on the archangels, "I was hoping you could tell me where the gates are."

Michael curled his lips in and looked at Lucifer particularly, like it was some kind of secret and no one was supposed to know. Lucifer turned toward Sam and nodded, "Yeah we know."

"Well?" Jet leaned forward, standing and glaring at the archangels, "Spill it, where?"

"We were strictly told never to-" Michael had started though Lucifer lifted a hand toward him to shut him up.

"We were told to never give that information to anyone, however that no longer matters, does it?" Cold eyes met the vibrant gaze of his older brother, they held the stare until Michael gave in and nodded his agreement. "Southern Wyoming," Lucifer looked back to Sam then, nothing but honesty in his eyes. "I'll point it out on a map for you, it's in a cemetery. Bigger question is, how far along is he? How much time do we have? It doesn't take much to open those things these days."

"Again, no idea." Sam shook his head, "Jet only heard a little bit during the fight, that's all the information we have at the moment."

"We'll need more." Balthazar rested his hands on his hips, "And we need time. Something tells me we're out of luck on both counts."

"Looks that way," Rochel nodded, "But from what I can tell Haniel's got his hands on some ancient magic. It's been a long time since I've seen any of that."

"Wait, you've seen this kind of thing before?" Jet stared incredulously, "You're kidding. What is with you guys and withholding information? This shit is important-"

"Jet, shut up." Dean warned, a half smirk on his lips. He agreed with the other man but didn't want to point that out when Sam was giving such a disapproving look. "Regardless of what they hadn't told us before, not a lot of it was relevant until now, give the guy a break."

"Right," Jet plunked back into his seat, "Whatever, fine, moot point. What was the run-in with this ancient magic stuff?"

Rochel gave the brunette a scolding look but adjusted his position to be a bit more comfortable, "It was after I landed on earth."

_Rochel's eyes fluttered open, a blurry ceiling slowly coming into focus. He felt sheets over bare skin, smooth to the touch and very unfamiliar. He blinked several times before turning his head to look around the room a little more thoroughly. "Zeruch?" he called hoarsely, wincing at the sound of his own voice. What had happened? He could hardly remember. "Zeruch?" His tone was growing a little more worried as little flashes of his lover's face vanished, like he was falling._

_No. Zeruch hadn't fallen._

_"Zeruch!" Rochel cried frantically, his voice still barely more than a whisper. He'd screamed it raw, he remembered as the pain shot up his back and rendered him useless, unable to sit up. "Oh god..." he whimpered, grimacing and looking around in a panic. He had no idea where he was and he couldn't move. Losing his wings shouldn't bring him down this hard, should it? He'd broken and torn the things out himself, an agonizing and self-mutilating process that really he never anticipated being strong enough to do. "Hello?" he resorted to calling out in general; trying to work up the strength in his vocal chords to make enough noise that someone might hear him. "Is anyone there?"_

_No answer came and he was starting to get worried. Rochel tried to rise again, this time it was much easier, the pain still there but much less shocking than it had been the first time, he knew it was coming. Feet on the shag rug covering the bedroom floor, Rochel grunted as he pulled himself up fear rolling through him as he stumbled forward. He wasn't sure if he was safe, if he'd gotten away from heaven's watch or if this was some kind of cruel trick._

_Rochel stopped calling out, his nerves getting the better of him, imagination getting away on him. He silently stood and headed for the door, noting that his limbs were stiff, like the joints seriously needed to be oiled or something similar. He stumbled a little and hit his knees, hands flying forward and catching himself before he face planted. His breathing had increased exponentially and he could feel a thundering in his chest. Part of him wanted to lie down right there, to give up and rest again. The rest of him slapped the weakness aside and forced him back to his feet and somehow over to the door._

_His torso was bare aside from the bandages wrapped all around his back and in turn his chest. A soft pair of white pants hung loosely on his hips, the drawstring barely tied well enough. He fumbled with it though his fingers hardly cooperated with the rest of his mind, so he left it, hoping they wouldn't fall down at any point. After managing to pry the door open he peered down the hall way, the place was amazing, it was definitely older and from Rochel could see it was more like a mansion than a house. The walls were decorated with expensive paintings, the railings of the staircases looked like they were hand crafted; the doors had intricate designs carved into them. Rochel swallowed nervously and started making his way down the hall, padding lightly on the coarser carpet._

_A human lived here, that much he was certain of. His eyes were still adjusting to being open but he was starting to make out little differences in a normal human home and this one. There was something off about the place, it felt wrong somehow but he couldn't put his finger on it. The feeling of missing his wings and his grace were bad enough, everything felt wrong so he thought briefly it might just be in his head._

_But he spotted a few carvings on a wall high above the massive painting of a man, and then realized that those carvings were everywhere. Smaller scale, yes, but they were on nearly everything. Door handles, staircases, painted into the corner of an art piece, he was seeing them everywhere. But he had no idea what it meant._

_No one appeared to be in the area, either. Rochel managed to get down one of the curving staircases into the main entranceway, everything was so open. There was a smell, he realized, something sweet coming from a room on his right. Rochel eyed the door briefly before moving to it, whoever lived here, he felt he might meet them. Shaky hands touched the wooden door, slender fingers trembling as he started to push, realizing that his full weight would be needed._

_Rochel nearly fell into the room though luckily his hands managed to catch hold of the handle, keeping him upright. His eyes snapped up immediately, he hadn't expected to make such an entrance and was concerned for a few seconds he may have interrupted something. But his attention was immediately caught by the wall-mount. Cleaned up but still skewed, uneven and burned, his wings were the first things he saw in that room._

_"Oh, you're up." A confident but cruel voice crawled through his ears, Rochel's gaze lowered to see a man sitting in a rather extravagant armchair, a glass of some sort of dark liquid in his hand. Rochel would have guessed wine but he didn't pride himself in knowing humans' drinking customs. "Welcome to my home."_

_"Why are my wings on that wall?" Rochel blurted it out, anger and anxiety the only two things he could figure out in himself._

_The man looked up and smiled, "Ah, you noticed. It's really nothing, just-"_

_"_ _Why_ _." Rochel demanded, his legs shaking and barely able to support him._

_"Don't fret about that, I've just put them in a safe place until someone I know can repair them, he's a vet." The stranger stood and walked over to Rochel's side, not seeming to be much for intimidation, he appeared casual enough though Rochel was getting a bad vibe. Again, though, it could just be because he was missing big parts of himself. "Can you... put them back on? Is that possible?"_

_Rochel shook his head and slumped down to his knees again, giving up on holding himself there, "I don't know... I've never seen it happen before."_

_"I mean no offense by keeping them there, would you like me to take them down?"_

_Somehow he knew he shouldn't believe that bullshit but he did, he wasn't in any position to argue or fight it. "Please, if you don't mind." Rochel felt dizzy and leaned forward, realizing that the other man had knelt down after he'd wound up in his arms. "Who are you? Is anyone after me?" The thoughts were jumbled and swirling in his head, he was starting to lose track of them. Darkness creeping up on his vision again._

_"Don't worry," That same creepy tone wavered as Rochel's hearing faded, "I'll take care of you."_

"Well that's fucking creepy." Jet blurted out, getting a smack from Camael. "What? It is."

"What happened after that?" Dean furrowed his brow, "I mean, were those engravings the ancient magic?"

"I spent a few weeks there, recovering." Rochel shrugged, eyes skimming over everyone's faces. "I found out after I escaped that everything seemed so much better. I could feel things again, I actually felt like living, like continuing. When I was there it was just... dismal, like I was being brainwashed to not want to do anything. Not only that but at one point I remember seeing spell books, at the time my mind was so fractured I didn't care to look. After I was out I looked into it, I discovered we had nothing like it and hadn't seen anything like it."

"Who was this guy? Maybe we can go to him." Dean was a little riled, starting to get up and anxious to get moving.

"I don't know..." Rochel shook his head, "I never bothered asking."

"Why wouldn't you ask?" Jet snapped and earned another smack, this one from Castiel.

"He just said the spell changed his mental state, why do you think he didn't ask?"

Jet cringed and nodded, rubbing the already bruising skin. Castiel apparently didn't appreciate that kind of anger toward one of his brothers. "Alright, sorry, my bad."

"I should have asked," Rochel shook his head, "But I don't even remember where that was. I tried to go back a long while after but I couldn't find it."

"We'll figure this out," Sam nodded toward him reassuringly, "Thank you, Rochel." The angel nodded in return, still feeling fairly useless. "So we need to get to Wyoming soon, I'll see if I can come up with a plan... What does it take to open the gate?"

"Angel blood, demon blood, and few human sacrifices." Michael stated solemnly. "He would need the spell that only the archangels know... Unless he's found a way using that ancient magic, I can't imagine the spell is very stable."

"So he'll need a demon to open the gates?" Dean smiled, "Well there aren't any of those left so we're good for a bit, right?"

"Supposedly, but I don't want to assume he can't find out. Haniel's dealt with them before all of this, he might've seen this coming." Sam tapped his fingers on the table anxiously, "Thanks guys, we'll figure this thing out yet. Until then, go and heal up. We'll need you."


	25. Chapter 25

Haniel strolled along the broken path leading through the cemetery, his hands in the pockets of his white overcoat, gloved in leather and doing all they could to avoid twitching in excitement. Crowley sat before the large gateway, busily reading from the tome Haniel had provided for him, Zeruch standing directly behind to oversee the progress. It was all coming together, majority of the sacrifices had been made, bodies piled high in front of the door, rancid and ready.

The demon chanted the last piece, the emphasis he put into it showed his eagerness to see everything come undone. Haniel watched as that familiar grin crept onto his lips, the cruel one that failed to hide any of his intentions. Crowley looked up toward the gates, waiting patiently for something, anything to happen. But nothing did.

"How are things?" Haniel smiled, cold eyes sweeping over the book as he stepped in front of the demon's concerned gaze.

"Well you tell me," Crowley looked up with a furrowed brow, "This is your ancient magic, should something have happened already? How does this work?"

"Soon." The ex-angel waved a finger, kneeling down across from his business partner, "When it starts to open we'll know, it takes a bit for things to get moving. I still need to add your and Zeruch's blood to the mix and one more sacrifice."

"And then what happens?" Crowley seemed a bit annoyed though he hadn't snapped yet, which was something he usually did when pissed off so Haniel wasn't too concerned.

"And then the timer counts down." Long slender fingers trailed across the edge of the book before Haniel pulled it closer to himself. "Each soul that is meant as a sacrifice will be sucked inside, one by one until they've all been assimilated by the gates. When that happens it will start to open. Should take about week."

"Sounds long and tedious." Crowley frowned, the creases in his features darkening as he thought it over, "Any way to quicken the process?"

"Rumour has it that mixing in the soul of a local speeds it up to be only half a day." As Crowley slowly lifted his gaze to view Haniel's face he felt a tremble of fear run down his spine, the demented look in those calculating eyes and the sneer accompanying them made him want to vomit. But he didn't get the chance. The world seemed to spin all at once and while he tried to focus on  _anything_  he realized he was staring up at the ceiling, Zeruch's bloodied blade lowering in a strange arch, or it looked strange from his vantage. The sword glimmered before vanishing, made up of pure energy and more than capable of killing any demon it'd come across. He tried to speak but no words came out, tried to move but his body wouldn't respond.

And then Crowley realized it; his head was no longer attached.

Haniel had risen and walked across the room, his boot coming down on the fragile skull of his enemy, a sick chuckle escaping him as he listened to the crunch, feeling the bone crack and splinter beneath his weight. "Goodbye, you little stain."

Zeruch looked at the bodies for a moment, all piled and rotting unusually quickly. He figured it was because of where they were located, directly in front of the door to damnation. He lifted his forearm and slit it easily with the tip of his middle finger, holding it over Crowley's body and letting their blood mix. "I don't know if I want to know, but I'll ask anyway."

The sound of his angel's partial annoyance caught Haniel by a bit of surprise, brown eyes flicking up to view the golden haired man's posture. Trying to read into it. "Ask away," he prodded gently, calmly strolling around to see Zeruch's face a little better.

"When hell opens, what do we do? What then?"

"Then we watch." Haniel's expression remained in his usual neutral though his eyes darkened in something that Zeruch wished he could understand. Something had broken in his leader, a long time ago it had broken but now it was shattered. Haniel was twisted past the angel he would have been, or should have been. "Watch and see how it ends."

"What makes you think it will end?" Zeruch didn't rightly feel like stopping any of it at that point, majority of the angels that followed the seraph didn't know half the things Zeruch did, and despite knowing he didn't alter his path. Haniel was looking to take the world down with him and after losing Rochel Zeruch didn't want to continue. If the other had a plan to finish it all then he'd follow anyway.

"I don't know that it will, I just think it might." Haniel ran his hand along the gate, feeling the reverberations below his fingertips. "It's ready. Let's go, there's a man I need to see before all of this." He walked across to Zeruch's side and in a flash they were gone.

* * *

Chuck fell back against a wall and exhaled heavily, feeling a massive strain on his entire consciousness as he worked. Nothing about what he was doing was easy and Lucifer's power was hardly sufficient to pull it off but it was better than nothing. If he'd had his own strength he'd have been long done by now, but he was without that luxury now. "C'mon tough guy, just a little longer and you can solve all of this." He muttered to himself, pushing back up and moving back toward his creation when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Solve it all, hmm?" Haniel's disturbingly casual voice shook Chuck down to the bone.

"Haniel-AGH!" Chuck cried out when he felt the crushing grip on his limb, Zeruch was obviously present and he wasn't being too friendly, bringing his father down to his knees. "Jesus!" Chuck cursed, or what would normally be a curse. From him no one was entirely sure. "What are you-"

Haniel covered his mouth and smiled, "After all of this time you have the nerve to use my name? I don't think so, let's take a moment now to show you something." His hand slipped away from Chuck's mouth and motioned toward Zeruch who swiftly gathered them both up and transported them, flying over the city where the last battle had taken place.

Chuck looked below and tried to turn away though a rough hand on his face forced his attention back down. He would have fought against it except the grace he'd taken from Lucifer was in use and no longer inside him. He felt an ache in his chest as he gazed below. The bodies of the dead had been gathered by the angels, the corpses from all over the world were piled high in a sick display.

"Do you know what you're seeing?" Haniel asked, his eyes drifting down to view the summit of their mountain of death. "It's a show for you, Father. Can you see it? What we've done?"

"You did this." Chuck snapped, his teeth grinding together as he fought against his stomach that demanded he wretch at the sight. "You started  _all_  of this! And for what?" He shot his glare toward the smiling twisted man, "What are you getting from this?"

"The satisfaction to know you finally realize that we're here."

"I always knew you were there, Haniel." Chuck tried to say though the snarling growl his words had gotten him silenced him for a moment longer.

"Then you're a bigger fool than I thought." And just like that Haniel's anger vanished, or at least from view, that smile had returned and his almost innocent tone seemed all the more rotten knowing everything he'd been doing. "Regardless, it's all done and over with. I just wanted you to see it."

"What now?" Chuck dared to ask.

"Everyone's been asking me that lately," Haniel shrugged, "You'd think people would be more creative with their answers, or maybe smarter to see where I'm going with all of this."

"Do you even know where you're going with all of this?"

"Can't say that I do. But I do have an answer for your question," Haniel glanced at Zeruch who made a landing nearby the base of the bodies. "It's time to display what I've learned as the Gates' keeper and the one in charge of disciplining the other angels."

* * *

The hunt was on and everyone was busy getting ready, Sam had gotten everyone prepared, as many as were available to fight. It wasn't going to many, that was for sure. Only the strongest angels were able to get their powers back up high enough to make a difference in the upcoming fight. It was scary, Sam knew, but they'd have to do what they could. The world was going to be hit harder than angels could accomplish, even if only half the planet remained the humans that were left needed them.

"Looks like it's just us," Sam looked over the team assembled, the usual suspects staring back at him. Michael reached over and took Bela's nervous hand, her eyes darting to his and watching the calming way he smiled to her, his composure definitely helped in the situation. Garth gave a salute, Balthazar responded with a short wave. Raphael and Annie nodded firmly. Sam's gaze shifted to the other side of the room, catching Jet's smirk and Camael's stiff and subtle shift of agreement. Rochel didn't do anything other than stare, though his eye contact was fierce and Sam didn't make a point of challenging it for long, finally exchanging a glance with Dean and Castiel, the two strongest their team had to offer.

"We confront Haniel, take him out if introducing Rochel doesn't work." Dean said simply, "Sounds like a piece of cake."

"Sounds like," Sam furrowed his brow, "Doesn't mean it will be. We don't know what state Zeruch's in, we don't know if he'll be in his right head and will recognize Rochel so be prepared for the worst, alright?"

"Right, right." Dean waved his hand, "So-"

"Guys!" Anna shoved the door open, her hair a slightly frazzled, eyes wide and frantic as they darted around the room. "I just saw something." Lucifer entered after her, apparently having decided to spend time with his sister for the last little while.

"What?" Dean, Sam and Jet all said in unison, the Winchesters glancing at their new addition to the 'no-patience' club before looking back at Anna, who seemed unfazed by their outburst.

"Chuck, Haniel's got Chuck!" She looked terrified, like she was about to fall into hysterics at any moment. "I saw it, I don't know how… Through our bond I felt it and when I looked… Haniel's torturing him. We have to save him! He's just as important as stopping the gates!"

Sam looked stuck for a moment but this was no longer fully his decision to make. "Of course," Castiel stepped forward and touched her shoulder gently to calm her, "Dean and I will accompany you, the rest," he looked at them, "Go with Sam to the gates, figure out how to stop it."

"We should come with you," Balthazar insisted, his eyes showing the concern he tried to hide in his voice. "You can't take Haniel on your own."

"Only we can," Castiel looked determinedly stern as he locked gazes with his long-time friend, "There's nothing more you can do against Haniel, just go with the others, guaranteed he'll have the gates guarded."

Balthazar looked like he was going to protest but nodded; Castiel knew what he was doing. Jet looked over at Dean to see if he agreed with his angel's decision and saw no doubts there. "Sounds good enough to me, Anna you can carry Dean, Cas, and Rochel with you?"

"Definitely." She looked anxious to go and no one could really blame her.

"Then go." Jet gave them a wave, "We'll take care of the gate but you guys better kill that bastard for the rest of us."

"You know we will, man." Dean pat him on the back, knowing that there were a lot of people who would like to go after Haniel, Sam and Gabriel in particular who had a run in with them much earlier on. "Give 'em hell."

"Funny guy." Jet smirked.

Anna gathered them up and took off, not bothering for the prolonged goodbyes. Sam looked over at Gabriel nervously, all of them were starting to feel like there was something wrong with the set up.

"Why would he start the gate thing and then take off to bother Chuck?" Gabriel finally asked as the angels started to get ready for whatever was coming up, their angelic armour glistening brilliantly even in the artificial lighting. "And why are these things always so goddamn shiny?"

"It's to distract the kids with ADD," Balthazar grinned. "Which I'm starting to think Haniel might have."

"Funny," Michael mused solemnly, his eyes darkened with the thoughts of everything that was coming down on them. "I really don't think Haniel has a method for any of this. He's just literally screwing around to see how bad he can make things."

"Which I think is far scarier than anything else," Raphael added, "With most evil people you have an idea as to why they're doing it, their motive. Haniel's just insane."

Lucifer walked in and leaned against the doorway, watching his brothers for a moment before speaking up, "I want to come with."

Michael looked at him seriously, "You're useless right now, Lucifer. You'll just get yourself killed."

"Hell is my domain, you'll need me to be able to close the door if it opens, or if it's open already. If Haniel's abandoned it that means he's done there, doesn't it?"

No one spoke for a few seconds, glanced exchanged before Gabriel looked up, "Then you'll have to come, but just remember that it's going to be insane over there."

"I'm aware." Lucifer nodded, his hand twitching nervously, something that the other archangels noticed immediately. He was scared, of whatever was about to happen, he was scared. "But I have to do this."

Michael walked over to him and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, "So be it."


	26. Chapter 26

" _Didn't I tell you?" Haniel leaned forward with a smile that was slowly fading and a saddened expression lurked over the rest of his usually calm face._

" _Tell me what?" Zeruch felt his heart sink as he looked up, taking in an expression he was far from used to._

" _Rochel is gone."_

* * *

Flying overhead Dean was making a point of not looking down, but the rest of the party did, Rochel was the first to react to the sight below them. "Oh my god in heaven…" he flinched and covered his mouth, turning his head toward the sky again but looking back because he couldn't deny the lost one last look. The massive pile of bodies was indecently high, from what they could see it could only be assumed that all the recent dead were resting there.

Castiel's expression soured at the sight but he didn't say much about it, eyes focusing on the figure at its base instead. "Dean," he pointed, "There."

Dean looked down and felt his stomach churn even further. The bound form of the heavenly father barely moved as they circled round. Chuck's head was hung and his limbs as still as death, no one needed to speak to know that everyone feared the same thing. Energy surged between Dean and Castiel as their bond flared to life. "Son of a bitch…"

Anna touched down, letting go of the others immediately and booked it across the distance between her and her partner, "Chuck!" Her distress was clear and a cause for anxiety in the others, losing the person you cared about wasn't something any of them wanted to go through. Rochel curled his lower lip into his mouth, biting down on it and turning away, hoping with everything he had that he wasn't about to witness what he thought he might. Chuck sat motionless on a chair propped up a few feet from the start of the corpses, his limbs bound and as noticed from above, his head was dropped forward and eyes closed, hair matted with dirt and grime and sticking to his brow. "Chuck," she dropped down next to him and hesitated before shaking him, a hand coming around and feeling for a pulse. "He's alive." She breathed after a moment, her heart almost stopping entirely.

The relief nearly washed Castiel back down to calm but he knew that just because Chuck was alive didn't mean that their troulbes were over. His eyes darted about, his heart pounding like a jackhammer in his chest. His father was beaten and unresponsive and the monster responsible for it was nowhere to be seen. "Son of a bitch…" he repeated Dean as he was at a loss for any other words. "Haniel!" The angel's voice ripped through the eerie quiet of the evening, frantic and angry. "Where are you, Haniel?!"

"Such passion in this one," Haniel's smooth voice rolled over them as he strolled around the body pile, his gaze flicking over Rochel like it didn't faze him. "You've always been that way, haven't you?"

Castiel snarled and stepped closer, though not intending to walk away from the others, very conscious of where Dean was first, Rochel, Anna and Chuck after. "You wouldn't know, Haniel. I was never one of your angels." Blue eyes remained stiffly on the psychotic being across from him, stealing glances in Zeruch's direction. He thought the angel would have already reacted to the lost lover in their midst, but nothing had happened.  _'He doesn't recognize Rochel…'_  He realized after a moment, Zeruch had barely given the other angel a passing glance, standing stoically at Haniel's side.

The moment felt like it dragged on, felt like it was going to drive everyone present completely insane. But not soon enough. Rochel couldn't take it anymore and marched forward, his jaw raised and eyes firmly drilling holes into Zeruch's head, "You don't even recognize my face, do you?"

Zeruch's gaze snapped over, his ears were burning and the look of nonchalance had faded entirely, giving way to recognition and heartbreak. He knew that voice, it haunted his dreams at night, laid out the paths of his nightmares and forced tears when he thought he had none left. "Rochel?" It was barely a whisper but he managed to utter his lover's name. "Rochel is that you?"

The angered expression on Rochel's pale face lightened and he nodded, "It's me, Zeruch."

Haniel made a 'huh' kind of sound and shrugged, "Guess the humans didn't kill him after all."

"You know damn well they didn't," Rochel snarled, his temper flaring and hands clenching into fists, "You lied to him on purpose, you just wanted him to join your twisted cause because he's the strongest you've ever had."

Haniel could feel the fiery stare on him and glanced back toward his Power, a smile widening on his face again. "You son of a bitch." Zeruch looked horrified, that he could go so long thinking Rochel was dead and all this time they could have been together, all this time that he could have been without his nightmares. "You manipulative-"

"You knew what you signed on for," Haniel pointed out, knowing by now he wasn't in a good position. He hadn't expected it to go this way, that the other side would pick Rochel up, even find where the hiding angel was located. "Kudos to you guys, by the way," He looked over at Castiel with a laugh, "Rochel was pretty well hidden, how on earth did you find him?"

"Little birdy told us." Dean spat snarkily, "Now give it up Haniel! Your sick little game is over."

"What, you think the angels are going to stop just because you kill me? This isn't going to end any time soon, Winchester."

Chuck coughed and squirmed a little, looking up toward Anna who had gathered him in her arms, held tightly against her torso and no chance of escaping without her knowledge. "You're wrong," he strained, attention shifting his way, "You're wrong and you know it, Haniel."

Castiel smiled back at his Father though the warmth in his eyes faded quickly as he stepped toward Haniel much more threateningly as his eyes flashed brightly, "I think it best that you step down now." He growled out, the ground beneath his feet starting to quake.

"What?" Haniel lifted the glass tube from beneath his shirt, fingers tracing the top playfully, "You want this to end without a fight?" Castiel burst forward but it was too late, the vial had broken and the grace trapped inside was freed. The shockwave sent Castiel hurdling backward, his feet digging into the ground though still unable to balance himself. Haniel hunched forward, something squirming in his back, pressing at the skin and stretching it until it tore open completely. Bloodied white wings shot out of his flesh, tearing a sharp cry from him as it split his skin, the wings stretching and fanning open. "Good god," he wheezed, lifting his head a little dizzily, "That was fantastic!"

Rochel made a face as Zeruch wrapped his arms around him, "Freak…"

"Yeah," Zeruch nuzzled their cheeks together, more transfixed by having Rochel with him again than Haniel's crazy tendencies.

Dean put a hand on Castiel's shoulder; the angel glancing back briefly though all they needed to do was exchange a nod. Nothing more needed to be said out loud as they launched forward again, magic flaring to life as Haniel straightened up, ready to receive them.

* * *

"We're almost there," Sam held tightly to Gabriel, glancing back at the others as they swarmed in, they had quite the crew. They were a powerful force and weren't ever meant to be messed with. The archangels were all present as well as a few teams that were surprisingly talented. Sam wouldn't want to be on the opposite side from this group, at least not again. It hadn't ended well last time and he doubted it would go any better for Haniel's army. Haniel wasn't present, after all, their genius tactician was missing which at least lessened their advantage of numbers.

"You aren't going to like this," Gabriel called over his shoulder, "But there's one hell of a greeting down there."

Sam looked to where his partner was pointing and felt his stomach drop, the ground below suddenly started to flutter and move as if it were alive. And in a way, it was. The angelic army charged upward from the ground, coming to meet them with weapons drawn. "It's starting, you guys ready?"

"BRING IT!" Garth cried out as he and Balthazar dove at the incoming battle head first, the angel's wings tucking in close for a better dive-bomb effect.

Michael winced when they made contact with the first angels below, thinking they decided to go for a head-butt manoeuvre. However the angels they struck went hurdling to the ground at alarming speeds and the eldest had to laugh, "Holy battering ram."

"It gets the job done," Bela mused, "Come on, let's get in there."

It didn't take any further prompts for the rest of them to charge right back, Gabriel knew Sam's grip was phenomenal, they'd done so many different flying exercises, each time he'd been shocked to see Sam still clinging to his back. However he was also carrying Lucifer and without any powers his brother might as well be a child. The plan was for the rest to fight the onslaught while Sam and Gabriel took Lucifer to shut the gates, it wasn't so easy. The mess of wings beating the sky was difficult enough to navigate through, but they weren't being ignored either. In fact their enemies knew to focus on Sam, to try and single him out. Of course in doing so they were brutally taken down because Sam's patience had worn dangerously thin.

"Son of a bitch!" The younger Winchester cursed as another impacting blow was barely evaded; Gabriel's wings tucking in close to narrowly avoid being singed by surging energy. "We'll never make it there in time!"

"SAM!" Jet's voice reached them but Sam couldn't see him, too many bodies, too many distractions and assaulting limbs. They were encasing Sam and Gabriel, swarming them specifically and making them almost immobile. Sam was starting to feel like they were in a cocoon, or one of those Indiana Jones type ruins where the walls start moving in to crush you. They struggled to break free, attempts at sending out shockwaves to pound back but it was too difficult to focus, every single flailing body beat against them relentlessly, knocking Sam forward, striking his head repeatedly and causing some serious delirium. Gabriel snarled in a way that vented his frustrations but there wasn't anything he could do other than push back. He had to hold onto Lucifer and now Sam wasn't responding as quickly.

For a moment the world felt like it was spinning, like it was going to fall away at any moment, until a reverberating shock made their encasing tremble. At first it meant nothing but another was followed by the booming sound and bass of thunder and soon it was happening like rapid fire. The shockwave pounding harder and harder, louder and louder until it cracked the air around them and the last of the angels swarming them fell away. Sam looked around dizzily before Gabriel sent a healing wave through him, "What-"

"I think you need a body guard," Jet grinned before he had Camael blast another swarming group, the same thunderous sound erupting from the aftershock, and another sudden crack as he rammed his staff into an angel flying by.

Sam smirked, "Thanks, Jet."

"What would you do without me? Seriously," Jet laughed, knowing that if he hadn't been there then one of the others would have probably accomplished the same thing. "Well come on, we'll clear the way."

"Good idea." The others could hold their own, Raphael and Annie weren't having any trouble and Michael was never someone to worry about. Garth and Balthazar seemed alive so Sam figured they'd make it through this fight like they always did.

With that the two teams blasted their way downward, the graveyard finally in sight and the gates pulsating dangerously. Sam could feel it, feel the life squirming beyond the gates, feel the anticipation and dread in the air. His heart was beating irregularly and he did his best not to think about it, about the stories when he was a little kid. God exists, angels exist, even goddamn  _Lucifer_  exists. It's only logical to believe that demons would too. Fear held fast to his soul as the thumping and hammering of his heart started to fall in line with the intensifying beat of the gates. Lucifer's partner, he was meant to be Lucifer's human and he was meant to stand beside the angel even in the face of hell. It was terrifying; to stand against demons and the monsters he'd always been scared of. As he'd grown humans had taken over as the monsters in his mind, humans could arguably be the root of all evil. But something about  _knowing_ that any moment he might come face to face with a real monster, a real nightmare, frightened him.

"They can't hold it!" Lucifer shouted, catching Sam's attention immediately.

"What do you mean?" Sam yelled back, the immense noise of a battle above them was drowning out almost all sound in the area, they could hear the clashing of swords, the air shaking and trembling from its weight. Sound could barely travel under these conditions and it was starting to be as difficult to speak to one another here as it would be in a live concert.

"I mean the gates are opening  _now_! We should have had days!"

"How the fuck did Haniel manage to open it that fast?" Jet snapped, "Is there some secret magical trick to it?"

"There is…" Lucifer muttered though only Gabriel could have heard him. "He'd have to send a demon's soul inside along with the rest of them, it jump starts the process."

' _Shit…'_  Sam looked down anxiously when he noticed several flashing lights escaping the gate, like little lasers flashing out all originating from where the doors should be touching.  _'It's too late… we're too late.'_

"Now what?" Gabriel had slowed down but Lucifer adamantly demanded he continue downward by yanking on him.

" _Hurry_! We can still do this." His command was heeded and Gabriel continued, Jet and Camael catching up fairly quickly.

Jet looked back toward the swarm above them and realized that the angels had stopped following. "What is…" He squinted and furrowed his brow, "What's stopping them from following us?"

"No idea," Camael had a bad feeling about it but he was fairly embarrassed to admit he didn't know something. It wasn't every day that the gates were forced open on Earth, it wasn't knowledge that he was expected to have though he wished he'd looked into it.

Just as they decided to dismiss it one of the stray beams of light from the doorway shot their way, striking Jet in the shoulder. Most would assume it was just light, but their assumptions were clearly wrong as it sent the stubborn man hurdling from his angel's back. A sharp cry erupted from his throat as the impact launched him right off of Camael, it all seemed to happen so fast and for a moment no one knew how to react but the angel of judgment was swift and caught Jet's ankle. Only after swinging his human upright again and tossing him back into the right position did Camael ask, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Jet looked at his shoulder where his shirt had been singed and the skin below damaged. "So uh… Don't get hit by that shit guys."

"Noted." Sam smiled, glad that Jet wasn't terribly phased by the assault.

They finally touched ground, realizing that the beams of light were getting bigger and more frequent. Sam looked to Lucifer to see what the archangel was up to and realized that he was walking right for the gates. "What are you doing? Lucifer!"

"We need to close it, remember?" Lucifer paused and glanced back.

"You can't get near them, they'll tear you apart." Gabriel frowned, "What are you doing?"

"The only way to open them is to stand directly in front of them and recite some ancient crap. I've got the reverse enchantment memorized but it works the same way, I have to be standing right there," He pointed to a spot that had been previously prepared for the earlier ritual, a single body laying next to it. "That's the body of our demon sacrifice, which means we definitely can't wait."

Sam looked at the body and noted its familiarity but didn't have time to reflect on it, "Lucifer you'll die if you do this."

"That's not guaranteed." Lucifer smirked, "Please, when have I ever been self sacrificing?"

His words invited a little bit of relief into the others, it was true, he'd never been the type to jump in front of a tank for someone. So why would he do that now? Hell on earth sounded like his kind of place.

"Son of a bitch…" A familiar voice caught their attention, all eyes snapping to the sacrifice and Sam felt his stomach drop. Crowley sat up, though it wasn't entirely him, or it didn't fully look like him. His head wasn't on straight and his neck was far too long for him to be human. As the business man struggled to stand his body shifted and twitched strangely, his skin looked wrong, like it wasn't actually skin but made of something much tougher. He snapped dark eyes in their direction and his face appeared to do some kind of morphing that could only be done in movies, or so Sam thought. An inhuman sound growled and screeched out of him as he started away from the doors.

"Crowley!" Sam didn't know where he found the nerve to speak but somehow he had it. That grotesque face angling toward him again, this time starting to resemble a human. "How did you get out of there?"

"You think it's so easy?" Crowley's voice broke into a multi-tone for a moment as he snarled at him, "As if I'm some meager demon that can be taken out by a regular angel's sword?" He started laughing, a sound that curdled the blood and froze limbs. "AH! Haniel it won't be so simple!" The demented and delusional creature seemed to turn into a dark shadow before vanishing, flashing along the ground and gone.

"Holy fuck what was that?" Jet muttered, wide eyes snapping over to Sam again.

"Crowley…" Sam swallowed nervously, very relieved that he wasn't going to be on the receiving end of a demon attack. He wasn't so sure he could take it, really. Everyone else knew he could, knew that Sam Winchester was strong and that when it came down to the wire Sam always pulled through and stepped over his fears to do what was necessary. But he wasn't nearly as certain.

"Lucifer!" Gabriel shouted as he looked for his brother, spotting the weakened angel before the gates, hands held over the bloodied symbol and mouth moving as he chanted in a language that Sam and Jet were completely lost on. Gabriel tried to run forward but as Lucifer continued several shockwaves pulsed and sent him backward again, repeating and increasing in strength. Gabriel went back to Sam instead, wings curling around him and protecting him from the slamming energy waves as they flashed over them. He loved his brother, sure, but Sam would always be his world and he'd sooner defend Sam then run in to die with Lucifer.

Camael did the same for Jet, noticing that despite how strong Jet was he was still being pushed back and the force of each strike was worsening. Jet looked through any opening he could, watching as a pedestal rose from the etchings in the dirt, Lucifer flinched repeated as not only the weight of the gates pushed down on him but the lights continued to hit him, the beams were larger and much more likely to skim him even if they were far above his head. "He's struggling…"

"Nothing we can do for him." Camael grit his teeth, he knew the moment Lucifer had uttered the words 'self sacrificing' that this could not end well.

Jet glared forward with a sense of wrong filling him as he watched Lucifer strain himself. "What the fuck… This isn't right."

Sam felt his heart aching as he and Gabriel had to continually step away, out of the light's path. Lucifer let out an anguished sound as his back was singed and he fell against the risen pedestal that was starting to look much more like an altar. His limbs trembled as he gasped and heaved in breath, trying to lift himself up again. Sam felt Gabriel's wings close on him harder and realized he'd taken a step forward. His angel pulled him back in, a blast of light striking one of the archangel's wings and tearing a cry from his lips. Sam knew he couldn't stay there, couldn't try to help because whatever he did would get Gabriel hurt, get him killed and he'd never forgive himself for that.

But could he forgive himself for this? Lucifer was divinely  _his_ , meant for  _him_  and he was going to just stand back and let this happen? Watch him die?

Lucifer pressed his hands onto the altar, gripping its sides and starting to attempt to move it. He could feel his head getting a little light, could feel his muscles straining and the slip of his bloodied hands on the stone. He had to do this. He needed to do this. After everything he'd ever done to Sam, to his brothers and sisters, he needed redemption and this was the least he could do for them. He  _had_  to close the gates; maybe saving their lives would earn him something more than the disgusted looks and fear he'd been getting until then. Maybe he'd be more than 'the devil' and his name might bring a feeling of enlightenment and not dread. He might be able to be more than the monster he was born to be.


	27. Chapter 27

"Get some!" Garth shouted excitedly as he and Balthazar smashed another angel to the ground, it was starting to feel almost too easy. Either that or they just didn't care enough anymore, like the world had gone to hell in a hand basket and really smacking angels around was the only way to feel useful anymore. Half the planet was dead and there would be no way to allow humans and angels to co-exist. Everything they had fought for since the beginning was all but gone now, everything was for nothing and it all amounted to about the same.

So why not crash into the enemy like you had nothing left? It seemed like the archangel teams were doing the same and quite frankly Garth couldn't tell what was going on below in the graveyard enough to know if they were succeeding. As far as he knew, demons were about to roam the Earth and shit was about to get real bad. He figured he had it all figured out, at least, until he realized the angels were leaving.

"What's going on?" Michael slowed to a stop and looked at the others, only getting confused shrugs in return.

"No idea, but it can't be any good." Raphael looked down and winced, finally able to see the situation below, the gates broken open a crack and the hellish light blasting through them.

"They think they've won, they're probably heading to Haniel." Bela looked away, she could tell what was about to happen even from that height and didn't want to see it.

"So do we follow? They're heading over to Dean and Cas' group." Balthazar looked anxious but Michael refused the question.

"No, we were charged with this."

"And they're handling it," Annie argued, "We're going, come on. If they team up on Dean and Cas then Haniel wins 100% of this and I'd at least like to kill the son of a bitch."

Michael couldn't argue any further so he gave his approval instead, "Alright then, let's go."

* * *

"Oohhhh my head…" Chuck moaned groggily as Anna unchained him, "What happened?"

"I'd ask you the same question." She muttered, glancing up in relief, it was nice to hear him talk after seeing him so beaten down.

Rochel and Zeruch, holding hands, approached Chuck's side as well. Rochel knelt next to him and smiled sincerely. It was his father; God was sitting here alive after all this time and after all the pain that had occurred. Like everyone Rochel had questions, like everyone he wanted to ask why it all happened in the first place but figured that Chuck must have had his reasons. Instead he gently laid his hand over his father's and bowed his head, "I'm sorry all of this has happened." He whispered, feeling the heartache of the last few centuries lift, the pain of not having Zeruch anymore vanish, and the concern that God didn't care about him drift away.

Chuck smiled and took a firm hold of Rochel's hand, "You know what you are, right?"

Rochel blinked and looked back up with confusion more than obvious in his features. Zeruch stood behind him defensively, not sure he liked the question though when he was about to step forward and ask he felt Rochel's arm press back against his legs, a motion intended to stop him. "What do you mean?"

"You're the angel of lost things," Chuck laughed softly, "The one angel I needed after all of this and you were hiding better than any other angel that had run away from home."

"I'd bet Haniel had a hand in that too," Zeruch grumbled angrily, glancing back toward the fight between Haniel and the perfect team. The only reason the bastard was alive was because he could fly and Castiel couldn't, projectiles were all Dean and Castiel had and it would be enough to win if they'd managed to hit the fluttering menace.

"I know I am, Father. What…" Rochel shook his head trying to figure out what Chuck meant, he could hear him and understood that yes, he was the angel of lost things but he'd taken out his wings and his grace so really he wasn't at that moment. "I don't understand what you want from me."

"You return things that were never meant to be lost in the first place. But when I created your power I made a fail-safe." Chuck explained, "I guess you could call me paranoid, but I figured something like this might happen at one point or another."

Anna rolled her eyes, starting to question whether or not Chuck actually was all-knowing or if he just talked a big game.

Rochel was about to ask for clarification again but the realization hit him sooner than he could open his mouth so he went for a different question. "My power doesn't just return the item, does it?"

"Normally it does but you're also able to duplicate it if we can't find it."

"Well I can always find it," Rochel pointed out, "If it's lost I can see it no matter where it ends up."

"So then you wouldn't know this yet, but when you honestly  _can't_  return the item," Chuck hunched forward, still looking tired after all of the days' events, "when it's in a place that if you removed it a lot of people would die, then you can recreate it."

Rochel stared incredulously for a moment and glanced up at Zeruch, "Did you know that?"

"Don't look at me, I had no idea." Zeruch lifted his hands and shook his head.

"You'll need your grace though." Chuck furrowed his brow, "Do you have it?"

"I do." Rochel nodded. He knew what he needed to do now, he could bring anything back and there were at least two things that needed to be returned.

"Then put it back."

_Meanwhile…_

The air seemed to crackle every time they clashed. Castiel couldn't help but grin at how easy this fight seemed, Haniel had no partner, had no way of making a bond and therefore was weaker than literally  _any_  other team out there. It seemed like too easy of a finish to such an awful stint of time. He'd almost say it had been a year but it felt like five at that point, and even saying a year might have been wrong. Castiel really had no idea how long Haniel had been going on his rampage but it was time it ended.

"Give it up, Haniel!" Dean shouted, his hands clenched into fists as his eyes moved in time with Castiel's, watching the disturbed angel like an animal watching its prey.

"I could," Haniel nodded, "But then where's the fun in that?" He dodged again, narrowly avoiding another energy ball that he was sure could take his head off if it'd managed to hit.

"You want to know where the fun is?" A very deranged voice caught the fighters' attention, Castiel's eyes widened when he recognized the face.

"Crowley?" He asked in disbelief, taking a few steps back. Dean could feel the weight of Castiel's emotions in that split second and could almost see flashbacks of the time Crowley had Castiel captured. Their bond shook but held strong, Dean refused to let his angel falter and back down. The strength he pushed through the connection was enough to keep Castiel on his feet, at the very least. "You… you died."

Crowley's twisted expression only became more gruesome as he attempted a sarcastic smile. "Twice, thanks to this lovely little-"

"Now, now. No name-calling boys."Haniel tutted, touching down nearby, smiling widely at Crowley, "I kind of figured you'd be back."

"Oh did you?" Crowley snarled, his skin starting to finally form over the leathery hide he was sporting though his face was still half monster half human. "Then why the fuck would you behead me in the first place?!" He shouted, his face burning a dark red as his fury became more and more evident.

"I told you when I did it." Haniel strolled closer; the calm way he moved was enough to put everyone off. Uneasy would be a good word to describe the feeling in the air. "I told you that we needed the gate opened sooner and the best way to do that was to send a demon's soul inside."

"And so you sent me, no other demons you could have used." Crowley's voice wasn't normal, the hints of another set of vocal chords lingered within his own and it only served to send shivers down the spines of those listening.

"You know very well there weren't." Haniel's coy tone lingered as he continued his casually slow stroll over to the demon's side. "We let  _you_  slip by,  _I_ let you slip by because I knew I'd need you down the road. And I knew that you'd claw your way out of the gate somehow, I was counting on it actually."

Dean didn't quite know what was going on but he knew enough to see an opportunity and tried to coax Castiel forward but his angel wouldn't have it.  _"Something's wrong."_

" _Yeah, you aren't moving."_  Dean bit out through their bond.  _"He's on the ground, get him!"_

" _No… something's not right Dean."_  Castiel shook his head and held his ground.  _"I don't like it."_

As if on cue with Castiel's warning, Haniel shot forward to stand before Crowley, his hand shoved into the other's gut with a sickening smacking sound. He grinned even wider as he angled his arm, the squelching noises made were enough to make Dean's stomach churn. "I need you for one more thing."

Crowley struggled against Haniel's grip but nothing came of it. He groaned and his voice hiccupped until it was single-toned again, his eyes starting to roll back. "What… are you… doing?" he strained, the viciousness diminishing in his words as he tried to fight back.

"Haniel!" Castiel shouted, finally regaining the strength in his limbs and ignoring his own warning he leapt forward to intercept whatever was about to happen. The amount of strength he put into his push-off was immense but not enough to go as fast he ended up moving. The vicinity around Haniel started to slide toward him, the air sucking back and pulling everything closer.

"Cas!" Dean stumbled forward and fell to his knees, feeling the ground below him slip away as he started to tumble forward. His hands flailed enough to catch hold of a broken wall, holding him in place so he wouldn't go any further. But that was as much as he could do. "Cas!"

Castiel could hear his partner's cries but couldn't heed them. His eyes widened as he hurdled closer without any hope of stopping himself, watching as Crowley's entire body was engulfed by Haniel's. The screams were horrific at best, pounding into his ears like a war drum, the shockwaves pulsing from the two bodies before him disrupted the sound rhythmically. It was disturbing at best, to the point that Castiel knew he'd hear it in his nightmares after all of this was over.

Castiel did everything in his power to stop himself, to make sure he didn't become part of the mess ahead of him, but nothing worked, the most he managed to do was slow himself down by beating his wing against the flow. The rhythmic screaming started to sound muffled as Crowley's body became less and less distinguishable as its own form and Haniel's body started to shift strangely.

The sky above darkened further as the sound of wings beating against the sky over-powered everything else. The angels had returned but decidedly didn't come any closer, they fluttered about in mild confusion as to what was happening, what Haniel was doing and generally lost on the entire scene below them.

Michael led the others in, following their bretheren all the way there and past, not wanting to wait behind heaven's army and watch from safety. He pushed back when he felt the mild pull from his altitude and motioned for the others to do the same.

"What the-" Balthazar halted as instructed and looked down to take in what was happening, his eyes fixed on Castiel as the crippled angel fought to save himself. "No… He needs-"

"Stop." Michael demanded, catching his arm, "You'll get sucked in too."

"Into what?! Castiel is-!"

"On his own!" Michael snapped, "Haniel's absorbing and fusing with whatever gets pulled inside him. Last thing we need is for him to get two extra angels."

Balthazar snarled at his older brother and attempted to defy the order but couldn't pull away from Michael's grip. His struggle grew more frantic as he realized he really couldn't do anything to save his long-standing friend. "No…"

"CAS!" Dean could only watch in horror as his angel and life partner fought frantically to keep out of the mess that Haniel was making. "No!" he grit his teeth and turned his head away, tears burning his eyes. Useless and helpless, just like he had been the entire time they'd known of Haniel's existence. "NO! Fuck!" He cursed and forced himself to look back. If this was the last time he'd see Castiel then he  _had_  to look. He owed his angel that much at least.

As much as Castiel wanted to spin around and cry out for Dean in return he just couldn't relinquish the energy. He knew that if he did honestly scream for Dean then it'd be the last sound he'd ever made as himself. He couldn't let that happen, he was stronger than this, he was more capable than any other being to fight this off and he knew it. He could out last whatever this was;  _he would outlast it._

Haniel stuttered forward, limbs pulling at the remainder of the demon struggling to break free of him, shifting beneath the weight of the forceful winds around him, the ones coming from him. The following few seconds seemed to last minutes as Crowley's final mumbles vanished and a wicked laughter set in, and along with the final flash of light came the last torrent of wind, tearing Castiel out of his safe zone and stealing all of the effort he'd already put in.

" **NO!"**  Balthazar lurched forward, breaking free of Michael and diving to the earth below.

" _ **CAS!"**_ Dean shrieked as the wall broke beneath his hand and he flew closer to Haniel in an uncontrolled tumble. Fearing for himself was the last thing on his mind, the only thing he could think about was his angel.

Just as he thought he'd lost everything and was about to be absorbed into a monstrosity, Castiel crashed into the unsteady form that Haniel now held, the Seraph stumbling backward but not falling over. Shaky arms lifted and held Castiel still as the dark-haired male immediately attempted to pull back. Castiel was bewildered and confused, having a hard time making sense of what he'd just narrowly avoided but that didn't stop him from frantically and desperately fighting to get away.

" _ **You aren't going anywhere, little one…"**_

Blue eyes snapped up to see the demented smile that seemed all the more twisted now that Haniel seemed to be mutating. Parts of his skin melted away and the feathers on his wings decayed drastically into a black, molten ooze. The smell wasn't anything like he'd ever experienced and though Castiel wasn't one to get an upset stomach, he felt his body wretch at the scent.

"Cas!" Dean struggled to get up from the dirt, trying to orient himself after such a hairy experience. He could see his angel, could still feel him connected, nothing was severed and so far Castiel was still safe. Dean forced himself up and tried to run but his legs gave way beneath him, he could feel the fear in his lover, could feel his heartbeat race and grew increasingly irregular the longer Castiel stared up at the monster holding him.

At least until Balthazar crashed into them, wrenching his friend away from their enemy as Haniel dropped to the ground. "Let go, you bitch!" Balthazar cried out before quickly making his escape, not wanting to turn around and see if Haniel was going to be on his tail.

The angel of joy only laughed from his position in the dirty, his body writhing and changing. At first he hardly moved, Castiel kept an eye on him until Balthazar put him down beside Dean and he tried to get as close as possible, Dean pulling him down against his chest until the human of the pair could stabilize his mind. He'd almost lost Castiel,  _again_. It was starting to get to him.

"I'm okay." Castiel reassured him, feeling himself calm down slowly now that he was firmly at his partner's side.

"What the hell is going on?" Garth finally managed to ask, he'd been holding onto his angel for dear life as Balthazar recklessly risked both of theirs.

"Haniel's lost it." Castiel muttered, looking up again to see the aforementioned beast starting to stand again. Haniel didn't seem to move for a few seconds, just standing stiffly and swaying back and forth. His wings were grotesque and a hideous mixture of angel and demon, as well was the rest of him. It wasn't something Castiel could see anymore from that distance but he knew pretty well what it was starting to look like. Haniel's eyes had sunken back, his mouth widened, skin melting away and limbs starting to break and reform into something much less human.

As they watched anxiously Haniel burst into the air, hurdling straight into the crowd of newly arrived angels. At first they didn't have an issue but when they realized he'd started to slaughter them they scattered in an insane frenzied attempt to escape. None of them knew what hit them, why it was happening or anything else. Haniel was their leader, why would he do this? Michael heard a similar outcry from each angel as they tried to save themselves and he only shook his head as he flew Bela to a safer location, or at least where he could see Chuck and Anna, Raphael following closely.

"What is he doing? That's his army…" Castiel muttered as he watched in horror.

"Like you said, he's lost it." Dean looked up, "He doesn't see clearly anymore."

"How can he? He's fused with a demon." Garth gawked. "Kinda serves 'em right though."

Castiel shot a disapproving look over the smaller human's direction before looking back up, "How do we get his attention back down here?"

"I guess we'll figure something out." Balthazar spread his wings, "Let me give it a shot."

"Be careful." Castiel furrowed his brow worriedly but only received a chuckle in reply before his old friend took to the skies.


	28. Chapter 28

"It's not enough." Jet was the first to speak after what felt like eons. Lucifer's grip was miserable and as far as anyone could tell he needed help.

But that was nothing short of suicide. The light struck all around where Lucifer stood and a good 10m radius around him, which was only growing as time ticked by. They'd already backed twice as far away as they had originally been, Lucifer's struggling form still in their line of sight.

Sam's legs trembled as he fought with himself mentally, he could feel Gabriel's hands on him, feel the grip that held him tightly in one place. He closed his eyes, squeezed them shut and thought for a second that if he couldn't see it then it wasn't happening, that he wasn't just letting it happen.

The pounding shockwaves hadn't let up, protective wings around the humans present were starting to tremble, Gabriel and Camael both starting to strain and groan under the pressure. The situation was ugly, the feeling that came with watching Lucifer get pummeled couldn't be described as anything other than disturbing, and there was nothing they could do about it.

"Please…"

The word was uttered in desperation and Sam hadn't realized he'd even spoken it, that tears had slipped down his cheeks and stained his skin. He was tortured by the sight but he couldn't keep himself from watching it, from giving Lucifer that last gaze he knew it would be, so he opened his eyes and glanced up between the feathers of Gabriel's wings. Gabriel, who held him close and safe, the love of his life and the only angel he'd ever needed. That's who Gabriel would always be, but that didn't stop the connection that Sam had inevitably made with Lucifer, as strained and sick as it was.

An echoing crack in the gate only meant a larger barrage of deadly light, Lucifer's body lurched violently but he didn't let go of the altar. His scream reached them and made each one of them shudder. Disturbing, grotesque and wrong.

"It's all going to be for nothing!" Jet shouted as the earth shook beneath his feet, his expression stressed and jaw clenched tightly. His entire body was tense, angled forward against Camael's wings, the seraph doing his best to keep his human from harm.

"There's nothing you can do." Gabriel yelled back, wishing he could get closer to save his brother, but he knew that there was no rescuing that was going to happen here, that Lucifer was as finished as the rest of them would be if he failed. "There isn't anything we can do." He repeated himself in hopes it would ease the guilt, erase the screams that started coming in faster.

"The hell there isn't." Jet's growled response hadn't given them enough time to prepare for what he was about to do next. Camael's wings were knocked aside and in the greatest show of strength Sam had ever seen, Jet ran forward, briefly pounded back every now and then with each pulsing wave of the gate.

"Jet!" Sam called out for him, not knowing what else to do but reach though Gabriel didn't let him move any further.

Camael was about to follow when the archangel next to him snatched his arm. "Gabriel, he's going to die-"

"And so are you if you go." Scared dark eyes glowered at the two in his company, "We can't lose everyone on this, stay put."

"We can't just sit here and let it happen either." Sam snapped, "Gabe, I know you're terrified and you don't want to lose anyone but if this gate opens were all dead anyway." The feeling of dread had settled deeply into their minds and blood, no one in their company believed that they would make it out alive. Not anymore. Lucifer was failing and if they didn't do something then they would all perish, the Earth would be overrun and consumed in deadly hellfire. "Stand with me, this might be your last chance."

Gabriel's eyes darted between Sam's before he nodded barely a moment after, hesitation minimal after hearing those words. "Alright." With that they turned toward the altar and made a break for it. Jet had already reached the pedestal next to the archangel hunched forward, unable to get his footing again.

Strong hands hauled Lucifer up to his feet, stern brown eyes glaring down. "You can do this, come on!"

Lucifer could hardly understand who it was standing above him, the shaggy brown hair made him hopeful for a moment but the features were too harsh and worn in to be Sam's. Pain was starting to feel numb to him now, it bashed into him repeatedly like a wave that just wouldn't quit.  _'You can do this.'_  The words were kinder than he'd expected them to be but he didn't believe them. Shaky and weakened hands pushed on the pedestal again, finding that he was losing his strength and will. He couldn't do this; he was as worthless as the dirt he always fell into.

"Lucifer!" Sam shouted as they pushed forward, "Lucifer, we're coming!"

Cloudy eyes snapped into clarity as he turned his head, Sam was pushing to see him, to help him. Sam was risking his life. Sam was going to die because he couldn't do this. Lucifer felt his heart sink as his mind raced, nearly crying out when the beams of light crashed into the dirt at Sam's feet.  _'He can't. Not because of me. I can't let him do this.'_  The thoughts resonated in his mind as he strained against the pedestal; they just had to turn the altar's decorative disks so the images carved into it were aligned. Of course the damn thing only turned one direction and it was obviously the path of most resistance. It didn't take Jet long to figure it out though his attention span was repeated assaulted by the gate's light.

Sam stumbled backward as the pulsing from the opening started to hit harder, they were so close and yet not nearly close enough. "Damn it!" He cursed as he slid further back without being able to gain his footing. The pounding didn't stop, the tempo increasing and strength along with it. There was nothing he could do to get closer, the only ground he'd gain would be the ground his face would meet when he was finally thrown. Another flash of light shot past him, grazing his arm and burning horribly.

Camael had made it closer but only to be blasted by a wall of energy that surged out of the opening doors. He not only lost his footing but he found he was no longer on the ground, hurdling backward with such force that when he finally connected with a tombstone several yards away he snapped it in half.

Gabriel turned and braced against the tremendous winds, his wings curling around his partner again, cringing with each wave. "We can't, Sam!"

Sam hardly heard over the sound of his own heart beating, eyes widening as he watched the two at the altar, the two that suddenly felt a million miles out of his reach. They were being torn apart. Jet was clinging to the turn-table as he pushed, some kind of determination keeping his back strong despite the chunks of flesh he was already missing. Sam could only imagine the faces that crossed Jet's mind as he did his damnedest to save mankind, those little orphans he'd taken in, the family he'd always protected. It was admirable and heroic and goddamn it he never imagined he'd admit something like that about Jet.

Lucifer had gained some kind of strength in his stance though the way they were turning the disk was so slow it looked like it weighed a metric ton. Sam's heart fell as he watched; each passing second was one closer and closer to the last breath his archangel would take. Not Gabriel, but the one destined for him. The angel that God had intended for him was about to die and he could feel it burning in his skin, eating away at him and ruining everything it could. "No…"

Gabriel hooked his arms around Sam's midsection and jumped along with the shockwaves, his wings spreading and carrying them safely away, incredibly fast but much more controlled than Camael's struggled fall. The other angel was still laid out, Gabriel would imagine he was either unconscious or injured.

He felt Sam's body tense and a severe heat behind him. Gabriel turned to see the gates nearly fully open, Jet and Lucifer no longer visible in the blinding luminescence surrounding them. There were no words for the feelings that washed over them in that moment, as everything felt like it was shaking uncontrollably and that the world was crumbling all around them. Hearts weren't only sinking, they were shattered and crushed, fear gripping the remains tightly and refusing to let go.

"No…" Sam struggled in his lover's arms, his whispered rejection lost in the wind. "No! Jet! LUCIFER!"

* * *

"You got a plan, tough guy?" Garth muttered as he clung to the thin cloth Balthazar wore as a T-shirt.

"Working on it, Scrappy." His mind could only circle around and around as he closed in on the messy situation above them. Getting Haniel's sole attention wouldn't be easy and it wouldn't be painless, he knew that much. All he could hope for was that he wasn't making a big mistake and wasting his time, or their lives.

"Need a little assistance?" Michael fell in line beside him, a look of disbelieving amusement on his face. "I can't believe you did that."

"We'll discuss my idiocy later, yes?" Balthazar grinned back. The two nodded their agreement as they hurdled into the fray together, no holds barred this was their final battle.

Castiel shifted uncomfortably as he felt the earth move beneath his feet. "Dean…" he murmured, "Something's happened."

"We can't worry about that right now," Dean watched carefully as the wriggling sky above seemed to fall to pieces, the monster they'd been facing was slowly focusing his attacks and if they weren't ready for anything they would be at the receiving end of a massacre.

"It's… It's bad, Dean." Castiel's eyes glowed and flickered, "The gates are-"

"Cas, don't." Dean looked at him, their eyes connected and in that split second Castiel truly felt like he could forget about it, like it wouldn't matter if they won. He believed that, at least until he heard the shouts from above. But his mind couldn't decipher the words as easily as his eyes could focus on the grinning creature towering behind Dean.

The split second was gone and Dean in Haniel's crippling grasp, hurdling into the sky. Castiel couldn't think, hadn't had time to think. The moment he'd seen those glistening eyes and the malicious smile he acted as fast as Haniel had. The one-winged angel hung from the monster's ankle, suddenly flying higher and higher into the skies above.

The world flew by as if it were nothing more than a movie, he could see the other angels, the swarm of them as they all fell, all struck with the same spell that Haniel hardly had to utter under his breath. It was beautiful to watch, slowly they froze and their bodies limply dropping, wings lingering behind them like a glittering trail of light. Beautiful in the same way a tragic poem struck emotions, he watched in miserable awe as they fell away and Haniel only flew higher.

" _ **A cling on."**_ Haniel's mangled voice grated on the nerves and anxieties like the worst kind of fear. Castiel looked up angrily, his jaw set and eyes narrowed.

"What did you do to them!?"

" _ **What I want to know is why it didn't work on you."**_

Dean gasped for air against the hand pressing into his throat, managing a strangled reply, a slight smirk on his face. "It's because we're perfectly connected, freakshow."

"If it doesn't work on Dean it doesn't work on me." Castiel finished the explanation with a grin of his own, his hands finding a better grip as he started to climb up the demon-angel's leg.

" _ **I've had it with you two…"**_  Patience seemed to be broken as Haniel's mind, or what was left of it, started to crack in more places than it should have. He lifted Dean closer, their noses touching and eyes close enough that Dean could make out ever speckle of anger flaring up in Haniel's gaze.  _ **"Nothing is perfect.**_ **NOTHING** _ **!"**_

Dean flailed to hold onto the mad man as Haniel's arm lurched out and his hand let go. Dean found himself falling, not just falling but thrown as hard as the monster could manage it. His heart leaped into his throat and then his stomach, wind rushing past his nose and mouth, stopping him from catching a deep breath and all but suffocating him.

"DEAN!" Castiel shrieked, pushing off of Haniel and diving after his partner, doing his best to ignore the cackling laughter behind him.

" _ **DIE PERFECTLY TOGETHER!"**_

- _Moments earlier_

Rochel ran toward the waiting grounded team, eager to tell Castiel the good news. He wasn't too late, he was just on time. His mouth opened to call out to them when it all happened, Haniel's sudden descent or what looked more like teleportation, and Dean's abduction, Castiel's unwitting tag-along, all of it in the span of a second. Rochel stood with his mouth gaping open as he stared up at the sky, the flicker above could only have been an ancient recited spell, Rochel could see it in the way the angels just  _stopped_. "Son of a bitch…"

"Rochel, you don't have time, just do it." Zeruch commanded, earning himself a glare from his lover.

"You think I don't know that?"

"Well you aren't doing it."

"Shut up!" Rochel snapped before looking up again, eyes glowing as he lifted his hand toward Castiel's ascending form, "I just need him to stay still for a second…" And just like that Haniel stopped to hover, high above the ground, a good skyscraper's distance away at the very least. "Perfect, at least something goes right today." Rochel muttered somewhat bitterly, the glow from his eyes growing along his body and into his hand, focusing in his fingertips.  _"Castiel angel of Thursday, partner, lover and guardian of Dean Winchester, I return to you what should not have been lost."_  Rochel chanted, eyes fixed on Castiel's struggling image only to be distracted by Dean who was violently thrown away, swiftly followed by his target. Rochel's body tensed as his trailed Castiel with his hand, concentration fighting against him in every way possible as the angels hit the ground around them.

"Come on, Rochel…" Zeruch's eyes widened as he watched the spectacle above, if he hadn't given half his grace to re-charge his lover's he would have been flying up there to catch them in a heartbeat. Of course, thanks to Chuck, that wasn't the case.

" _Taken from you in a situation out of your control, I return your wing, as functional and strong as it should be."_  The angel of lost things, his title, granted him the ability to return anything considered missing or impossible to get back. Chuck had explained that it didn't just return the original object, Rochel was able to recreate anything if it were truly out of his reach, and sometimes even just because he could. He was able to do these things but that didn't mean it was easy, sweat beaded down his neck as he focused on the plummeting angel, watching as Castiel desperately flapped his one wing in order to gain enough momentum to catch up to Dean.  _'I have to get this right, I can't miss.'_  Rochel's mind wouldn't let him forget, wouldn't let it slip and wouldn't stop distracting him so he shut it out, going with instinct instead.  _"I return it to you."_

The light at the ends of his fingers shot out and skated across the sky to its target, both Zeruch and Rochel holding their breath in anxious anticipation.

Diving down.

Round and round they fell, arms flailing out in desperation.

Reaching but barely touching.

Castiel could see it, could envision every detail of Dean's mangled body on the ground below, nothing he could possibly do to save him, nothing to do but fall with him.

Fall and let the whole world down, let it crumble alone and pass the remainder of their time together as flat as gravity would allow them to be.

Diving.

Almost there.

Falling. Crying. Pleading.

Goddamn it.

Castiel's fingers hooked Dean's jacket and that was enough, he hauled them closer together, arms wrapping tightly around his partner. Dean was in hysterics, his fear of flying, falling, all of it, rushing around inside him like a laser bouncing off mirrors. He dug his fingers into Castiel and clung hard, his panicked breathing labored but calming slightly now that he had his angel.

Castiel rested his head on top of Dean's and closed his eyes, "I've got you," he promised, "I'll never let you go."

A pull in his back was hardly noticeable, at least that was until it started to rip and tear his skin. Castiel grit his teeth and opened his eyes, he could feel it, stretching through the mutilated flesh of his back. His  _wing_. It was stiff, he could feel the muscles that were brand new, warm and sticky with what could only be blood, but that didn't matter.

"Cas!" Dean screamed as the ground rushed up, he buried his face into his angel's chest for what felt like the last time. He anticipated impact and tensed, flinching when he felt a sudden change in direction. He thought for sure he'd died instantly, that they were nothing but splatters on the ground.

But the breeze on his skin suggested otherwise. The feeling of moving upward dawning on him. "Cas?" He lifted his head again, his muscles unable to do anything but tremble as he looked into the euphoric expression on his lover's face and feel the rush of happiness through their bond. Dean didn't need it spelled out but he had to look, to see the magnificent set of wings again, the ones that Castiel had refused to show him for years. Aside from the fact that one was dyed a dark red, he could only utter the word 'beautiful' at the sight.

"You ready?" Castiel looked down at him, the sparkle in those baby blues sending a burst of strength into Dean's spine.

"Damn right I am, let's take that fucker down."

Rochel threw his arms into the air, "I did it!"

"It's not over yet," Zeruch furrowed his brow, "They still have to fight Haniel."

"Well it's his final hour." Rochel straightened up and turned his head to the skies as the angels scattered on the ground began to stir.


	29. Chapter 29

Haniel dove down to meet them, the world spinning around as the distance between them closed. Dean gripped Castiel's coat tightly as they soared higher and higher, it had been so long, over 10 years since they'd done this. But that didn't seem to matter anymore. The instincts came back naturally, their minds synced like they always had without a single roadblock to slow them down. Castiel's wings flared up in a brilliant light, his body emitting a blinding glow as they rocketed to meet the demon they'd longed to take down.

When the two forces met the sky erupted in frightening flashes of light and exploded as if thunder were crashing all around. Rochel stared up alongside his partner, Zeruch's hand slipping around his lover's slender waist as their hearts boomed along with the rest of the city. It was almost like going to a rock concert for the very first time, the way your skin trembles at the sheer volume of the sound, the bass reaching inside and pounding your heart along to its rhythm.

Nerves were on fire as the angels gathered on the ground, their eyes fixed on the beautiful sight of the battle above. "What happens now?" One muttered, "What do we do now?"

Michael glanced over, his arms wrapped around and holding Bela who was still fairly shaken from their fall. He'd healed her injuries but she didn't quite feel like standing n her own just yet. "You smarten up," he snapped at his brothers, "The angel that fought to save you and give you a home is above you now, fighting against you. Why do you think that is? Do you think he's changed any since the first day?"

The others barely turned their heads to look over; the knowledge of how stupid they'd been was with them though they didn't want to admit it was there. "Castiel has always fought for everyone," Balthazar added, "He's not only been looking to save all of us, he was hoping for a peaceful co-existence for everyone, humans as well." He turned his gaze to the grotesque pile that was still clearly visible from nearly any distance in the city. "And look what you've done. You felt like it wasn't enough, that Castiel's efforts were useless and so you retaliated years later,  _ten goddamn years_. You spat in his face."

"But Haniel-"

"How many of you did Castiel rescue?" Michael bellowed over them, interrupting their feeble attempts at an excuse, "How many?"

No one moved but they knew no one had to; Castiel had saved every angel present, and this only caused the flock to lower their heads shamefully. Garth marched over to the crowd of angels and crossed his arms over his chest sternly, "That's right, Castiel saved you. But Cas was never alone, do you know who he's always been with? From the very start? Dean. Dean Winchester who is a  _human_. You think we're all like Crystal Wings? What about Sam Winchester? The efforts that he and Gabriel have put into this? The freedom fighters, which has angel-human teams, fought against you when they were once the response team for your distress."

"I think they get it," Chuck's voice caught everyone's attention and they all turned their heads to see the bruised man hobble over, his arm slung around Anna's shoulder. "But it's too late."

Michael's eyes widened, his grip on Bela tightening as his heart raced. "What… what do you mean by that?"

"I mean it's too late to have a peaceful co-existence. It isn't possible, the power difference between humans and angels is too great." Chuck shook his head; "I'm sending you all home."

"But it's gone." Balthazar furrowed his brow, "We were barely able to escape as it crumbled, how-?"

"Our angel of lost things has been found," Chuck nodded over toward where Rochel and Zeruch stood together several yards away. "He returned my strength to me."

"He can do that?" Garth gawked. "But he looks so useless-" He stopped when he received a glaring look from Anna, "I mean, I didn't think he could do anything."

"Just stop talking." Balthazar pat his partner's head roughly.

"Thanks to Rochel I've been able to recreate Heaven, this time it will be self-sustaining and so will all of you. There won't be any repeats of last time."

"But…" Michael felt his protest fall silent, how could he deny his father? But yet… he couldn't let Bela go either. "What about the teams?"

"They'll have to separate." Chuck's tone was far from lenient, his gaze steady and staring directly into his eldest's eyes.

Balthazar lowered his head for a moment before looking up at the war above, at Castiel's magnificent wings and the way they moved, the perfection that defined every movement. Only a bond with a human could make something so flawless, and the perfect connection would soon be broken. Castiel would be dragged home.

* * *

Haniel cackled, nothing short of insane now. He caught Castiel's arm as they clashed again, his grip strong though nothing close to what his opponents were still daunting. Dean struggled to break them free but Haniel wouldn't have it, wouldn't allow it. Despite their power difference he was still able to hold on. It was astounding, the amount of strength he'd had at the start, the control and precision of battle tactics, it was all gone now. He couldn't hold his own against the perfect team; no matter what he did it was never good enough. He had no chance of winning that fight.

But the question had to be asked, did he ever plan on winning the battle? Everything so carefully planned out until this point, where things seemingly went wrong and yet he still expected everything that had happened. As much as Castiel would have enjoyed getting into a philosophical debate about Haniel's sanity and whether he'd set this all up for whatever reason, he didn't have time.

"It's over, Castiel." Haniel whispered, the sudden alteration of his voice back to his normal tone was jarring.

Castiel turned his head toward the calmly smiling face, his heart skipping wildly, "Why are you doing this?" He growled.

"Because it's all gotten so monotonous, someone had to shake things up for a little while." Haniel replied smoothly, his hand tightening on Castiel's forearm.

"You're nuts!" Dean snapped, "But I will thank you for one thing."

Haniel glared up at the petty human barking at him, "Gratitude from you? What could you possibly be thankful for?"

"For destroying heaven." Dean smiled at the confused expression that had earned him, "If you hadn't lost your marbles and decided to fuck with things because you were bored I never would have met Cas, and to me that's all that matters."

Haniel would have said something but for once he was cut short, he knew his babbling days were over as he watched the bond between the two flare to life. The fact that he could visibly see it was enough to shut him up.

" _Haniel, Angel of Joy, you are a seraph and like the others you shall reign over one of the seven heavens."_

_He stood anxiously beside his brothers, eyes wide and excited as he waited for the long speech to finish, for him to finally be assigned to a heaven. He hoped for the first or second, to be able to peer down at mankind and watch them closely. It seemed like fun and he imagined it'd be endlessly entertaining._

_But he didn't get his wish._

" _You will reside in the third heaven, you will command the Powers of heaven's army and you will watch over the gate."_

_The gate. Hell's gate. His entertainment shifted from humanity to demons in the blink of an eye. And not a single protest was allowed. He nodded his head and accepted the role as it was expected of him._

" _Sure the angel of joy could keep things in line."_

" _He's perfect, there are much fewer chances of him being corrupted like the others."_

_Perfect._

Haniel smiled as he felt the power surge through him, Castiel's strength, Castiel and Dean's power reverberating in the air around them and starting to suffocate him. And he closed his eyes.

In the end it was perfection that ended heaven's most twisted angel.

It was a divine plan that came together; the meeting of Dean and Castiel was a chance that could have easily slipped by without ever occurring. But thanks to one angel's meddling it happened, and it was that same occurrence that put him out of his misery.

With the last dazzling display of holy energy that silenced the land below, Haniel fell.


	30. Chapter 30

The explosion of power from the gates knocked them down, Gabriel hunching over Sam who had been slammed backward into the ground but not out. They huddled there for what could have been anywhere between a few moments to an hour, they couldn't have been certain but it definitely felt longer than it was.

They had expected the following sounds to be those of demonic footsteps, the flapping of leathery wings and monstrous cackling. But instead there was a silence, uncomfortable and entirely unwelcome. Gabriel stumbled as he turned to stand, not wanting to be taken unaware or with his back turned, Sam feeling the same as he unconsciously pulled himself back to his feet. Their gazes went immediately to where there once stood an altar and two of their friends. Sam would have called out but he was afraid there wouldn't be answer, just like he couldn't see anything in front of the gate.

And then he noticed it; the gate was closed, not open. "They did it?" He muttered, stumbling over the tombstones and busted terrain back to where he'd been standing moments before. "Did they?" He looked to the other angels, Gabriel's mouth open in shock.

"I think so…" His reply was hardly coherent but Sam understood all the same. "Holy shit…"

Camael sat up, bewildered eyes scanning the area desperately for the man who held the other end of his bond, he couldn't feel anything and he didn't know if it was because of death or unconsciousness.  _'I should still be able to feel him while unconscious…'_  He thought miserably, struggling to his feet and taking another scan of the area. "Jet!" He called out and paused for a possibly reply but heard nothing. "Jet…"

Sam tried not to listen to the angel as he hopped over rubble and debris, following the blast wave's direction, the most likely path he'd find them on, hopefully alive.

Gabriel took flight over the desecration despite his exhaustion, his heart sinking further as he took in the sight below. He covered his mouth and closed his eyes, he knew he wouldn't want to watch as Sam finally discovered what he'd been meaning to.

"Jet, Lucif-" Sam stopped, his entire body frozen as he stared down at the charred bodies before him. Both seemed to be petrified, unmoving and nearly impossibly to identify. But Sam knew them; he knew both of their builds, the general shape of them. He'd worked with them both, one of which saved his life on several accounts. "No…"

The broken words wouldn't leave his lips, 'this isn't right', 'they didn't deserve this', 'why did this happen', none of them. In their place a wrecked sob grew and brought Sam down to his knees before he fully reached their sides. His legs wouldn't carry him any further; his lungs wouldn't take air properly, he just couldn't do it.

 _Stay strong_.

He couldn't.

_Don't give up._

Give up on what? It was over.

Gabriel squeezed his shoulder, "It's never over."

Sam grabbed his partner's hand and pulled him closer, throwing himself against Gabriel's torso, refusing to let the tears show, to let his crying be heard. The archangel silently wrapped his arms around Sam's shaking form and curled his wings around; he had no words of comfort, nothing to make any of it better. Instead he remained quiet and offered a simple phrase, "I'm sorry."

Camael took his time before he walked the distance from where he stood to his allies. He took a deep breath and looked at his brother solemnly, "We should go and see how the others have faired against Haniel."

Gabriel scowled darkly at him but stopped before speaking, the look of pain on Camael's face was indescribable and it struck a chord Gabriel wouldn't have known about. Camael's bond had been severed; his partner lay dead on the ground below him. Nothing could be more painful. "Alright… let's-"

"No." Sam glared up at them both, "Not without them."

"Sam…" Gabriel couldn't come up with anything to truly protest, Camael was hurting but so was Sam, and if the archangel had to choose which one affected him more it was a no brainer. "What did you want me to do?"

"We need to wrap them up an take them with." Sam, though shaky, finally managed to walk over to his fallen comrades. He did his best to hold his shoulders straight for them, they died heroes and that's more than he thought either of those two could have ever been. "I… I can't just leave them here."

Gabriel nodded, "I'll take Lucifer," he looked at Camael who only nodded silently.

Nothing more needed to be said.

* * *

Castiel was impossible to call to the ground, he graciously returned Dean to the safety of the earth but couldn't help himself. The wind in his hair and on his face was too tempting and too intoxicating to let go of. He'd done his part, the others could handle Haniel's body and all the rest, he just wanted to fly.

"I guess he's allowed to have his own obnoxiously selfish moments…" Balthazar muttered with a smirk, not honestly upset though he wished he could call Castiel down and tell him to spend his last moments with Dean.

"Cas earned it," Dean chuckled, sitting against a chest-high wall that he was certain used to be much taller.

Chuck nodded, "Castiel… has earned many things. So have you." He looked at Dean with a half smile, "People tend to forget that it takes two to make a team."

"Yeah well Cas and I dragged each other through the tough times," Dean shrugged, "When people compliment him they compliment me too, he and I are the same."

Chuck nodded solemnly and looked over at the pile with a strained breath, "Yes… well sometimes there are things even the two of you cannot prevent."

The silence that followed was uncomfortable. Haniel, though he'd died, had basically won in the end. He'd rallied a cause and he'd gotten his wish, his ultimate goal was to tear the human and angel world asunder. Half of humanity had been brutally murdered, he'd taken Heaven down to nothing and who could really know how many angels died during the first decade after their descent. The world was nothing now like it had been twenty years prior. Haniel had won and there had been nothing they could do to stop it all.

"We'll fix it." Dean said stubbornly though his confidence faltered when Chuck snapped an angry look down on him.

"No, there's no fixing this." His voice wasn't feeble and far from the dweeb-y guy Dean had met all those years ago. No, he was talking to God, not Chuck. "I won't let them play around here and screw everything else up."

"Wait," The older Winchester lurched to his feet, his stomach suddenly feeling like he had a mountain of stones in it, his heart feeling about that heavy. "What the hell do you mean?"

Castiel landed then, he could feel Dean's distress and came immediately. "What? What's going on?"

"I'm taking the angels home." Chuck stated again, just as seriously.

Castiel and Dean looked to one another. What could they say?

"You've got to be joking!" Garth would protest as often as he needed to, though he could feel the rumble in air around them as Chuck turned that look his way. "We… We've done too much, we've fought too hard to just let them go!" His knees were weak and he could feel himself giving in to the angry, wrathful God before him. Who was he to argue?

"Stand down, Garth."

"He's right." Michael stepped forward, his voice almost as shaken. "We've been here so long already-"

"Michael! I've spoken, that's it." Chuck bellowed at his oldest, the dark haired archangel taken aback and retreating with the booming words.

The angels were shaken; their father had given his order. They were to return home.

All the angels were afraid fight his word. All but one.

"No." Castiel's growled out, not wavering when he received the same glare they all had. "You can't do this."

"I am, you all clearly can't live among humans without everyone killing each other!" Chuck barely managed to shout the last word before Castiel's fist connected with his stomach and actually sent him to the ground. Chuck was more than shocked, wild eyes snapping up to meet the most intense blue he'd ever created.

"No, you can't do this because I won't allow it. You don't know what we're capable of. You see the worst in the whole when only a fraction has made a poor decision. Yes, that fraction happened to be the majority this time around but whose fault is that? You've built us to take orders! We need guidance because you never believed we could do it on our own." Castiel spat every word articulately, stepping closer and looming over his father, his heart never skipping a beat and his words not failing him. "But I know why you're doing this, you lost control, you couldn't stop any of this from happening and you feel guilty. You feel guilty for your mistakes, shame because so many of your children are dead, but you know something? I'm not going to let you rain your pity party down on us. Yes, by all means punish the morons that followed Haniel blindly. But you know better than to punish us all. Angels fought and died on my side, teams of my brothers and their humans, bonded together, fought for freedom and equality. We have all sacrificed too much to just lie down and let you waltz into control again, to just let you tell us how things will be run.  _I_ won't let you. I will fight you every step of the way until my last breath.  _I am staying on Earth. I am staying with Dean_."

Chuck hadn't dared move; by the time Castiel was done they were nose to nose. "Is that how you all feel?" He looked to the others, noticing that Michael, Balthazar and Raphael had all stepped up behind Castiel, Rochel and Zeruch approaching as well.

"Can you really say no?" Anna furrowed her brow, "After everything? You put your faith in Dean and Castiel and they did exactly what you needed them to do. You believed in Gabriel and Sam and look at what they've all accomplished. There are bad things but… not all of us are like that."

Chuck looked at her with a softened expression, his face scrunched in thought as he looked back to his angels, Bela had taken Michael's hand firmly, Garth stood defiantly at Balthazar's side, Annie took her place next to Raphael, and Dean placed a hand on his seething partner's shoulder. Could he really say no? Could he break this apart?

"Dean." Sam's voice broke the moment in half, his rough and ruined tone catching everyone's attention in a heartbeat.

Dean's eyes widened and he ran over without thinking twice, "Sammy! Sammy, are you okay?"

"I…" Sam looked away, "I couldn't do anything."

"Are the gates open?" Castiel asked softly, moving to Sam's other side, glancing over at Gabriel and wrapped bundle in his arms.

"No." Sam shook his head and nodded toward Gabriel and Camael, "They… Lucifer and Jet managed to close it."

Dean stared at the unmoving bodies for a fraction of a second before he connected the dots. "Son of a BITCH!" He turned away as he cursed, kicking the ground hard and ignoring the pain that shot up his leg. "What the hell!"

Sam bit his bottom lip and managed to stop it from quivering, stop any more tears from falling. "They saved us. If they hadn't done what they did we'd be screwed."

Castiel wrapped Sam in a hug, wings curling around comfortingly, "You did everything you could, Sam, and we will honour their sacrifice."

Gabriel and Camael laid the two down and stepped back, Gabriel catching Michael's arm as his older brother ran over. "He's gone, Michael." Gabriel couldn't think of saying anything more than that, and really he hadn't imagined feeling as bad as he did. Lucifer had been a dick and had done the worst kinds of things to Sam, but that didn't make him 100% evil. Lucifer tried to repent, tried for forgiveness, and died for it.

Michael lowered his head and stood in silence, his mouth pulled tight in a grimace. "I'm sorry, brother." He whispered, kneeling at Lucifer's feet he allowed himself to weep for the dead, Raphael standing at his side with his head bowed in respect.

"What do I tell the orphans?" Sam leaned away from Castiel and looked over at his brother for advice, "Jet's dead… what the hell do I say?"

"You tell them he saved us," Dean was glaring down at ground Jet lay on, "You tell them the truth, because you know he wouldn't want you to make up some glorified story about it. If he went out cursing his mouth off then that's what you say."

Sam couldn't help but smile at that, there was just something comforting in those words. "Thanks, Dean."

"You win."

They looked up when they heard Chuck's voice, the man had risen to his feet again, a somewhat humbled smile on his lips. "I won't demand that you come home, but only the ones I feel deserve to stay will be granted that option, I'm taking the rest with me."

"Is there going to be some kind of test?" Gabriel wasn't surprised by the subject, God had always been the type to pull crap like that and he had expected something like this to come up forever ago. "And where exactly are you going to put the others?"

"I'll make up some sort of trial and tribulation, I'm sure." Chuck waved it off with a laugh, "It'll be awful and poorly written, but what can you do? And as for where, back to heaven. I've re-created it."

"How the hell did you-"

"We've been over it a lot lately," Rochel interrupted, "I'll fill you in later."

"Right," Gabriel furrowed his brow, "So… then what? We're done? It's over?"

"It's never over." Sam kissed his cheek.


	31. Chapter 31

Heaven was in working order again; most of the angels had been taken home and assumedly grounded on a holy scale. Chuck wasn't just going lay back and say 'oh you did a bad thing, no dessert for you guys.' No, they were retrained, many of them. They were shown the way things were supposed to work in a new light, but this time Anna was the one teaching them all. She stood in front of her troops like the commanding figure she'd always been. Her eyes never leaving the many faces that stared right back, but her mind couldn't focus on it.

" _You're leaving?" Castiel stared at her with those inquisitive blue eyes, his head tilted slightly, a combination that always drove her insane. And not because he was annoying, he was too cute to be as badass as he'd become. Remembering when they'd first met at Mrs. Milton's training camp, she never would have guessed that the bitter, 'I like sleeping naked' angel would become the very same one standing before her._

" _I am." She finally replied to him, a hand coming up and caressing his face. "I've done all I can here and… Chuck's going back."_

" _Do you see him as Chuck or as God?" Castiel asked softly, "It makes a difference who you're following."_

" _I'm with Chuck." She smiled reassuringly. "I swear."_

" _I believe you." Her brother wrapped his arms around her and held tightly, stubbled cheek scratching hers slightly, "Please take care of yourself, Anna."_

" _Always. If anything ever happens, I'll come to you. If not, I'll see you eventually."_

" _Depends on Dean's lifespan." Castiel smiled sadly as he stepped back._

Anna looked over at the other angels assisting her in the vast re-training, Camael returning the gesture toward her briefly and smiled, his expression somewhat serious though it always had been.

" _I don't care what you say, at the moment I don't see why any of this was necessary." Rochel bit out, "So I went with my gut on this one."_

" _You went and found things that were meant to be lost-" Chuck tried to argue though was immediately cut off._

" _Excuse me? Fuck you 'meant to be lost'. We were cleaning up your fucking mess, asshole!"_

" _Jet, don't curse at God." Sam tried to sound serious through his smile, it wasn't working._

" _Shut up, Sam." Jet pointed at him without really looking away from his staring contest with the Almighty. "You really want to kill us again? Are you actually that unhappy that he went and brought us back? One of the 'mean to be lost' is your freaking archangel!"_

" _Jet, it's alright." Lucifer lifted a hand to try and wave it off but he had to admit he was amused by the spectacle._

" _You shut up too, Luci." Same treatment he'd given Sam. "So, Chuck, or God, or whatever you want to be called, are you ungrateful for what we did?"_

" _No, that's not what I'm saying." Chuck rubbed his forehead tiredly, "All I'm saying is that Rochel, from now on you can't go and resurrect beings as powerful as Lucifer on a whim, okay?"_

_Rochel smirked and nodded, "I suppose so, sir."_

"Do you regret not staying?" Anna looked away from Camael as she asked, watching the angels do their 'homework'.

"Not at all. Jet's alive, he's been strong enough without me from the start, he just needed a boost." Camael closed his eyes as he chuckled, "I saw no reason to stay with him now that it's all over."

"That must have taken a lot of strength. I wouldn't be able to get over the distance between me and Chuck, your bond must be tearing itself apart."

"No, I suffered the tear already when he died." The angel of judgment tossed his staff from one hand to the other. "He died, that severed it indefinitely. Rochel brought him back, yes, but he and I would have to remake the connection and quite frankly I see no point in being tied to him after all has been said and done."

"So it doesn't hurt you?" She furrowed her brow.

"It does every now and then, but I take a glance down to see how he's doing and it feels better."

"Cute." She huffed out a laugh, "I never imagined you to be that type."

"Everyone changes with time."

"Seems that way."

Humanity climbed out of its hole and started to rebuild, like they always did. Life would always move on without those that had passed whether those that mourn want it to or not. Statues had been crafted to commemorate the achievements of the fighters that had given their lives, to the men and angels that never faltered in their beliefs, and to the most admirable souls anyone had ever known.

The leaders, the most memorable individuals in the war would go down in the history books. Dean and his angel Castiel, Sam and his archangel Gabriel, Bela and Michael, Annie and Raphael, Garth and Balthazar, and of course Jet and Camael; a list of names that were recorded immediately. There would have been more, like Rochel and possibly the story of Zeruch, but they much preferred to stay out of it. Those two had vanished as soon as they were allowed the luxury of no longer being noticed. No one saw them again, no one bothered to look. If they wanted to be alone then that was entirely their business. Everyone was happy for them.

As collected as the world attempted to be, as much as mankind did its best to clamber out of its hole of hatred and dysfunctional thought processing, people were still people. Many were extremely happy the angels were gone but the rest were sad. They knew what it meant, that they'd failed a test of some kind. But what more could they do other than try to get along with the angels that did stay? To treat them right for once.

Michael remained at Bela's side, her boyfriend, her husband, her partner until the end. Raphael followed suit with Annie after they'd gotten over the awkward 'not sure I want to be married to a different species' moments. A speech from Castiel definitely pushed that along, though it was more of an angry tirading rant.

Balthazar remained on earth for two reasons, the first being that he wanted to keep in contact with Castiel, they had been friends since the beginning of time and that friendship would continue until neither of them were able to breathe. The second reason being something he wouldn't admit outright, he'd miss Garth. The quirky, weird little human that managed to wiggle his way into Balthazar's often cold heart with an unwanted hug and a stupid manner of speech. Balthazar was very glad, though, that he could say he had more than one close friend in the world. Castiel would often be busy with his soul mate, after all.

Dean, Castiel, Sam, and Gabriel were the four corners on which the earth regained its footing. It never was truly over for them, not really. Castiel and Dean stepped up their game from peacekeepers, they became so much more than the symbols of peace and equality. They enforced it with the strength they knew they had and lived their lives as if they were one and the same,  _the_  example of unity to show the world. A symbol was nothing more than a theory, but an example held proof that it was possible.

Sam and Gabriel continued what they'd always done but this time without the aggression. They ended up working alongside Jet and surprisingly Lucifer as well. Jet did what he'd started doing and they were helping him take care of orphans on the one hand, and on the other they'd go out and do what they thought was right (whatever that might have been at the time). Jet did most of the aggressive actions from that point forward, he was never too shy or too shaken to do so. Lucifer felt somewhat endeared toward the human that decidedly risked his life alongside him, the first human to just go 'fuck it, I'm saving Lucifer', so he kind of became Jet's new partner. Sort of, without the actual bonded connection. Sam had gotten his fill of the fighting, but that didn't mean he wouldn't take part. Haniel had left a mark on the world that no one could really erase and he knew that they'd be dealing with it until they day that they died. But that was okay by him. The freedom fighters hadn't disbanded, instead they started to form the new government on their own. Taking from the example that they'd seen, Sam, Gabriel, Dean, and most notably, Castiel's.

Thanks to the example that the four of them had left for mankind, for men and angels alike, their work would be picked up when they had gone. Because when the Winchester's passed, their angels didn't stay.

Castiel sat in heaven and in his arms he cradled the soul that was forever connected to his grace. He wasn't sad; Dean wasn't gone. They were together, and they would be for the rest of eternity.

Of course he could say he wasn't sad until he was blue in the face but it would never really be true. Nothing would be like it was; it was all going to be so much different now. His world had changed forever, again. Balthazar watched from the sidelines, Garth had passed long ago and so Balthazar's return to heaven was nearly immediately after. He too had wanted to be close to the soul of his long-lasting connection, which meant it'd been ages since he'd seen Castiel face to face. And the first time in years that they see one another it's not on good terms. Because for Castiel to have come home Dean must be dead. There were no words to be spoken so instead Balthazar closed his eyes and prayed.

"No need for that, I'm already here." Chuck spoke, making the angel jump slightly.

"What are you doing here?" Balthazar asked softly. "Humans die all the time…"

"Not the ones that save world." Chuck walked into the room and placed a hand on Castiel's shoulder, not flinching when he saw the big wet eyes glance up at him. "Castiel," his voice was gentle as he reached down to lay a comforting hand on one of Castiel's, "You need to let go."

The blue-eyed angel could have argued, could have complained and refused, but he knew better. Clinging to a soul in solitude was unhealthy and wouldn't be good for either of them. "I can't just… let go." He whispered, "He was everything to me…"

"I know." Chuck slowly lifted the glowing ball that every once in a while took on Dean's shape from Castiel's arms, the broken angel watching sadly as it left him.

The following days were quiet; Castiel stood at the edge, looking down at the earth below, the place that had been his home for decades. He watched Sam as the elderly Winchester sat peacefully next to his archangel, their hands unconsciously linked. Castiel could see that Sam had several years yet, a perk of living healthy. He smiled sadly, watching Gabriel, knowing that Gabriel knew it was all coming to an end. He looked at Sam's wrinkled skin; the white hair and the distant look in his eyes. He remembered when those hands were strong, when that cane was never needed or even thought of, and most of all he remembered that man's brother.

" _You're_ my _angel."_

" _We won. We made it Cas."_

" _You know you're everything to me. I can't imagine my life without you in it, Cas."_

Castiel closed his eyes as the tears slipped down his cheeks, "Nor I you, my love." He whispered.

"What's with the weird vocabulary shift?"

Castiel's head snapped up when he heard the voice. "Dean." He spun on his heel to see that face, the one he remembered so fondly from every day, the one he'd fallen in love with. Dean was standing before him. "Dean you're here." It was like a floodgate had opened in his eyes as he bolted toward his lover, his heart pounding like a jackhammer in his chest. The split second it took him to reach Dean he'd noticed so many things, the youthful look he'd taken on, the subtle glow of his skin, but mostly the bright set of wings on his back.

Dean caught his stumbling partner, wrapping his arms around Castiel and holding him tightly. "Looks like Chuck figured I deserved a recycling or something." He whispered with a laugh, running a hand through the soft, dark hair he'd missed.

"I can't believe you're here." Castiel sobbed, "I missed you, it hurt so much, Dean I-" He was silenced when Dean lifted his chin and pressed their lips together in a kiss. Passion wouldn't be a strong enough word to describe the feeling between the two of them. Words weren't needed, they could feel it, everything they'd ever been able to feel before but stronger. Their souls would always be connected.

As they broke the kiss, hands on each other and tears glistening on their faces, Dean smirked and ran his thumb along Castiel's lower lip, "Looks like you'll have to train me how to be an angel."

"I think you're a lost cause." Castiel laughed softly.

"Why's that?"

"What kind of angel is afraid of flying?"

"Then carry me."

"Always."

**Author's Note:**

> That's a wrap my friends. Angel Training is over for the time being; it will get a shout out in a fic called Chronicles and there will be a few chapters dedicated to the universe but aside from that this is all you will get. 
> 
> Please let me know what you thought, leave some kudos etc. Thanks for reading!


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